


I Will Wait for You

by singersdd



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Starts out canon, goes au later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-05-19 08:46:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 36,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19353526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singersdd/pseuds/singersdd
Summary: When Sirius Black left Hogwarts at the end of book 3, where did he go and what did he do? Here's my answer.I started writing this 10 or more years ago, and it's time to release it into the wild.





	1. Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> This work starts canon. It's canon all the way to the end of book 5, where it becomes just slightly AU. 
> 
> It's been hiding on my hard drive for too long.

Chapter One - Reunion  
June, 1994

She heard noises in the mid-June night. It sounded like some sort of beast calling and it was making her dogs crazy. She turned on the outside lights, but saw nothing in the yard around the farmhouse.

“Hush! There’s nothing out there,” she said to the dogs. The dogs quieted, but kept shooting her injured and offended looks, as if to say that it wouldn’t be their fault if a homicidal maniac burst in.

Just as she put her foot on the bottom stair, there was a knock at the door. The dogs went crazy barking and scratching at the door, trying to get at whomever – or whatever - had knocked. She turned on the light again and peered out, to see a disheveled man with long hair, torn and ragged clothes, and tattoos – lots of tattoos – standing on her covered porch. She peered closer at him and her eyes sprang open as she recognized him and opened the door.

“Sirius! Is that you?!” After almost 13 years, he was nearly a stranger to her. She stepped back and opened the door wide. “Come in.”

“I was afraid you wouldn't recognize me.” Sirius looked down at Althea and regarded her. She was still short; barely five feet, two inches. Her hair was still dark and curly, although he could see a few gray hairs here and there. Her eyes were still hazel green, but there were a few lines around them now. She was wearing an old green t-shirt, that brought out the color of her eyes, and gray sweatpants.

Althea Willow’s green eyes welled with tears as she said, “I almost didn't.” 

Once upon a time, Sirius Black had been the love of her life. But they’d quarreled over . . . something; and before they could make it up, their best friends, James and Lily, had been murdered; Sirius had been blamed for betraying them to their murderer; and he’d been blamed for the murder of another friend. 

Althea had known all the time that Sirius was innocent, but she’d been away, in North Carolina, when James and Lily were killed and she hadn’t gone back. She couldn’t fathom a life in England without her best friends a part of it, so she’d stayed at home, near Wilmington. And now Sirius had found her.

“Dumbledore said that you were waiting for me.” It was phrased somewhere between a question and a statement, with a lot of hoping against hope mixed in.

Althea nodded her head of short dark curly hair, “Yeah. I was.”

The dogs had stopped barking when Althea had let Sirius in the house, but now heard something outside that started them up again.

“I don’t know what is up with these two…” began Althea.

“I would imagine it’s the hippogriff outside.”

“The hippogriff outside . . . that would do it. Do you want to bed it down in the barn?”

“I think that would be best.”

“I’ll come and help you. Then we can catch up.” They didn’t say much to each other while bedding the animal, which looked like a train wreck between a horse and an eagle, down in the barn. They kept looking at each other out of the corners of their eyes, and glancing away quickly if they happened to be looking at the same time. 

Althea finally giggled. “What?” asked Sirius with a huge grin, as if he didn’t know what was wrong.

“We’re acting like a couple of shy twelve-year-olds.” Althea’s green eyes were dancing on either side of her small nose. Sirius’s gray eyes were sparkling, too. He was completely filthy; his black hair reached his elbows, and he didn’t like to think of the hours he’d spent flying on that hippogriff; but he could already tell that it had been worth the trip to come to southern North Carolina and find Althea. 

 

“Would you like some coffee or something hot?” Althea asked, as they walked back into the house, where they were greeted enthusiastically by the dogs. 

“Do you have any tea?”

“Yeah; I’ll put the kettle on.” They sat down at the butcher block kitchen table while the water heated.

“What have you been doing all these years?” Sirius asked.

“Oh, I teach at the North Carolina school of magic, I walk my dogs; I read a lot,” she paused in thought and wrinkled her eyebrows, “Not much.” She said the last with a tone that made it sound like her life had been rather boring. It had been. 

To change the subject, Althea said, “Have you seen Harry?” at Sirius’s nod, “What’s he like?”

“Harry is just like James. With Lily’s eyes.” There was gentleness in Sirius’s tone, one that made it sound as if he was speaking of someone very special. “Do you remember all the trouble James got into –”

Althea snorted. “You mean, ‘Do I remember all the trouble you and James got into?’”

“Well, yes, I suppose I did help a little.”

Althea snorted again. “You helped a lot.” She considered what she knew about James and Sirius and asked, “Does Harry find trouble or does it find him?”

“Both,” Sirius said, and laughed with Althea. “Harry is exactly what you would expect James and Lily’s child to be: he has James’s wizarding abilities and talent for trouble and Lily’s kind and generous heart.”  
Althea’s eyes were shining at this description of her best friend’s child. She had missed him practically every day since the last time she’d seen him, when he’d been one. 

“Is he happy with Petunia and Vernon?” Althea had met Lily’s sister exactly once. She and Petunia had not been impressed with each other, to say the least.

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Well, when I met him and things were straightened out between us, I offered to have him live with me and he seemed very happy with the idea.”

“Huh. Well, Petunia always looked down her nose at Lily after she started at Hogwarts – called her a freak - and then she married that stuffed-shirt Vernon. Ugh.”

“He doesn’t seem to have suffered too much, though.”

“Hmmmm… good.”

The kettle whistled and Althea poured cups of tea for both of them and automatically added milk and sugar to Sirius’s. 

“You still take milk and sugar, yes?”

“You remember after all this time?”

Althea paused, as if searching for exactly the thing to say and settled on, “Yes,” as she carried cups of tea to the table. 

Sirius wanted desperately to ask Althea if she’d not met someone else; someone to replace him; but he didn’t know where to begin.

“When you said, ‘Not much,’ earlier…”

Althea knew exactly where he was headed, as she’d been hoping he would, and slowly said, “No, Sirius; I don’t have anyone in my life,” as she picked up her cup of chamomile tea. She’d made regular tea for him, but knew she’d be up all night if she drank anything but herbal.

“Why ever in the world not?”

“Well,” she paused and drew a deep breath, “After you, I couldn’t ever find anyone who measured up to you.” Her eyes filled again and she buried her face in her teacup again.

A slow smile spread across Sirius’s face. He’d been afraid that he’d been forgotten; that he’d been replaced in her heart by someone else – not that he ever could have blamed her – but now he finally felt he could relax for the first time since that dreadful day almost thirteen years ago, when his best friends had died. He reached out to Althea, took her in his arms, held her very close and they cried. 

 

“Good morning.” 

Althea came awake slowly and realized that the voice in her ear was Sirius; that it was his arms that were wrapped around her; that he’d really come back to her and was still in love with her after all the time they’d been apart. It was the most content and happiest she’d felt in a long time and she hoped that he and this feeling would be around for quite a while.

“Good morning,” she said in a contented and happy tone.

Lying in Sirius’s arms was marvelous and neither of them wanted to move, but there were two dogs inside and a hippogriff outside all complaining that they’d like breakfast.

“Sirius, what, exactly, does that monster eat?”

“Small furry animals like ferrets, usually.”

“Well, there are plenty of rats in the barn – despite the barn cats. I hope he’s not going to try to eat the cats: I wouldn’t bet against them in a fair fight.” Sirius laughed his loud bark at this, as Althea went on, “There’s a field behind the barn where he can catch all the small furry creatures he wants – they’ve ravaged my garden this year.”

“All right then,” Sirius started in a joking tone, looking at the dogs, “what, exactly, do these monsters eat?”

Althea gave him a long-suffering look and said, “Dog food, Sirius. Do you want some?”

“Smart aleck,” he retorted. “They don’t try to eat the cats?”

“Why do you think I’ll bet you even money on the cats against a hippogriff?” Althea asked with a laugh. Sirius laughed. 

“Gretl has scars on her nose from the last time she tried to catch one of those cats.” Gretl, a solid black dog, came over looking for attention at the sound of her name. “Sit.” Althea reached down and rubbed and scratched her head while she talked.

“Gretl would be the Alsatian?” 

“You mean German Shepherd?”

“That’s what I said: Alsatian.” They laughed again.

“Yes, this is Gretl.”

“And the Rottweiler is Hansel?”

“The Rottweiler is not Hansel – that would have been too twee even for me. His name is Harold.” The big black and tan dog jumped on the bed with a huge grin on his face and immediately leaned against Sirius in hopes of the same treatment Gretl was receiving. Harold knew dog people when he met them and his tail wagged furiously while Sirius rubbed on him and played with his ears.

“How old are they?”

“Gretl is 5 and Harold is 3.”

“They’re beautiful dogs. I can’t imagine, though, that you’d want to own such large dogs, as small as you are.”

“It’s all in learning how to handle them and convincing them when they’re puppies that I’m in control. Besides, I’ve had a thing for big black dogs for quite a while,” Althea said, grinning widely at Sirius, who could turn himself into a big black dog at will. 

“You still have a thing for big black dogs, eh?” Sirius had the same sort of look on his face that he had worn quite often when plotting trouble with James.

“Oh, don’t even think it.”

“Whaaaat?” asked Sirius in an injured, innocent tone.

“Two big black dogs are quite enough, thanks. I don’t need a third one stirring up trouble with these two.”

“Do you really think I would cause trouble?”

“No, Sirius, I know you would.”

Sirius laughed, “Well, all right –but it is a very useful disguise, you know.”

“We’ll hold it in reserve for an emergency. You’re a great dog, but you’re a better man.” 

Sirius retired from the fray with a smug look on his face. “I better go check on Buckbeak.”

“Buckbeak? That’s a good name for a hippogriff. Let me put the dogs out in the front yard and I’ll come meet him properly.”

“You don’t want to introduce him to the dogs?”

“After we’ve had coffee and breakfast. Introducing a Rottweiler and a German Shepherd –”

“-Alsatian,” interjected Sirius.

Althea glared at Sirius and went on “- to a very large animal with wings is not a task to attempt before we’ve had coffee - at least.”

Sirius laughed as he agreed with her.

 

While Althea dressed for the day, she thought over all that they’d talked about and all that had happened last night. They had laughed over shared memories from Hogwarts; they’d cried over James and Lily and Harry; they’d regretted time they hadn’t been together; they’d been glad they were together again. . .

It had been about one a.m. when Althea had yawned a gaping yawn of exhaustion; she’d been up since six and it was starting to catch up with her. 

“You look almost as exhausted as I feel,” said Sirius.

“It has definitely been a long day. . . just since you knocked on my door,” Althea replied, and then said, “I’m not saying you smell, but I would imagine that a long hot shower and clean clothes would feel really good right now.”

“You don’t know how right you are.”

“You’re in luck: T. R. left clothes here the last time he visited.”

“T. R.?”

“My brother, Thaddeus?”

“Oh, yes.”

“You and he are about the same size, so I think his clothes ought to fit you well enough.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Althea retrieved some jogging pants and a t-shirt from the spare room dresser and said, “Clean towels are in the closet in the bathroom.”

She’d meant to stay awake while he showered, she really had, but she made the mistake of lying down on the four-poster bed, on top of the flower garden quilt her granny had made, and despite the excitement and joy of having him back in her life, she’d been asleep in about two minutes. 

Sirius emerged from the bathroom to find her curled up on top of the bedclothes, still in her own jogging pants and t-shirt, fast asleep, with what he thought was the most beautiful, angelic look he’d ever seen on a woman’s face. Not wanting to wake her, he pulled a blanket from the end of the bed over her, very gently lay down behind her and curled himself around her. She instinctively snuggled further into his arms and said, “Hmmm?” He carefully stroked her dark curly hair out of her face, let her take his hand in her small one and curl it under her chin, and slept.

 

Althea and Sirius spent their first full day together doing things. Althea owned a small farm that let her raise a garden and have a barn and good room for her dogs to run. It was mid-June, so the garden was beginning to take off, despite the rabbits, ferrets, and other creatures from the field behind the barn. She had hopes that Buckbeak would help clear this problem out. 

Althea usually drank only one cup of coffee, but after last night, and being awakened at the normal time by the dogs - they'd never heard of sleeping in - she drank two large cups. Sirius finished off the rest of the pot. 

After breakfast, it was time to introduce the large dogs to the hippogriff. Althea had to ponder on the best way to accomplish this. She remembered from her Hogwarts days that hippogriffs had to be approached respectfully, deferentially. Well, the only thing to do was just do it. 

“Sirius, here, you take Harold.”

“Why do I get the larger monster?”

“Because you’re stronger than me and he seems to think you’re a hard-headed kindred spirit. He’s well-behaved, but I’d like to have stronger muscles than mine holding onto his leash.”

“That’s logical – amazing from you.”

Althea just glared at him. Sirius only thought she wasn’t logical because she always lost her senses when he was around, but she was normally a clear-headed and logical person. She sighed, “Dearest, I can be very logical when it comes to my dogs. Follow my lead. Gretl, heel.”

Althea kept the solid black German Shepherd right by her side on a short leash and walked out the kitchen door to the field behind the barn, where Buckbeak could be seen chasing something. She heard Sirius give the same order to Harold behind her. She stopped at the fence and Sirius stopped beside her, Harold between them. Harold decided that the large winged creature in his field must be barked at. The large gray winged creature gave a call of his own that led one to believe that he was taking offense at the dog’s language.

“Sirius, give his leash a quick tug and tell him to hush.”

“Hush, Harold.” Harold didn’t hush, in typical Rottweiler fashion. There was something large with wings in his territory and it must be warned away!

“A firm quick tug. Let him know you’re in control and you’re not taking any nonsense from him.” 

Sirius tugged at Harold. “Harold, hush.”

“Barooooooooooooooooooooo,” said Harold, which attracted more of Buckbeak’s attention. 

Althea put her right hand on top of his head and said, “Hey. Hush,” in a tone that was supposed to remind Harold that it’s foolish to mess with short women. Harold still didn’t hush, so Althea bent down and glared him in the eye and said in a low and menacing tone, “I said, 'Hush'. Sit. Down.” Harold sat, lay down, and shut up. 

Sirius looked at her in amazement, “How’d you do that?”

“What?”

“That!”

“I just looked him in the eye and reminded him that I’m the boss and he’s the follower. How much time have you spent as a dog and you still don’t know how dogs think?”

Sirius bristled a little and then said, “Yes, well, what next?”

“I’ll open the gate and you walk in first. Buckbeak knows you, so maybe he won’t completely freak out over the dogs.” 

Althea followed Sirius through the gate. All the animals were on edge – but so were the humans. Sirius stopped a few feet from Buckbeak and gave the bow that a hippogriff demands. Buckbeak gave a call and beat his wings on the air. 

Althea called, “Harold, DOWN!” Harold’s training came through. He didn’t want to, but he lay down and Buckbeak bowed back to them. Althea followed suit with Gretl and then the four of them approached the hippogriff slowly so that none of the animals would be frightened. The humans finally got the dogs within smelling distance of the hippogriff and after a few more tense moments, the animals were at least civil to each other, if not exactly friendly.

The dogs were normally allowed to run off leash in the field, so they were getting a little impatient to be allowed to run. After a few more minutes of sniffing the hippogriff, and Buckbeak sniffing at them, the dogs were finally allowed to run. Their first stops were wherever Buckbeak had been and they spent quite a long time with their noses down, following the trail Buckbeak had left. 

After the drama of introducing large dogs to a hippogriff, it was time to for something a bit more mundane – bungee jumping, maybe. As there wasn’t a good place for bungee jumping on the Carolina shore, they settled on just walking around the farm so that Sirius could get a good look at it. 

“I just had to have the roof on the barn re-done last year. We had a vicious storm come through that took about a third of it off. Thankfully, there wasn’t much in there to be ruined at the time.”

“What do you have in the garden?”

“Oh, there’s corn – if the squirrels haven’t eaten it all – and tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, squash, a few other things, and my herbs, of course.”

“Still into herbology?”

“Dear,” it felt right to call him that, “I teach herbology and potions. I need every one of those herbs for my students.”

“Ah. Do you enjoy teaching?”

“Yes, I do. I had some really great students this year. A couple of them could become great herbologists if they wanted to.” She stooped and picked a bug off a wolfsbane plant and said, “I’ve also been doing some research.”

“What kind?”

“Well, lately, I’ve been working on a potion that might help a werewolf remain a human during full moon.”

“Thinking of Remus?”

“Who else?”

“I saw him at Hogwarts when I met Harry.”

“I miss Remus. Is he doing well?”

“As well as a werewolf can. How is the research going on your potion?”

“I started with Belby's wolfsbane potion. I’m wondering now what will happen if the potion’s taken every day. I just need a willing werewolf to try it on.”

“I’ll let Remus know. I’d also like to write to Harry and Dumbledore.”

“Okay. I have a few birds in the barn. They aren’t owls, but they get the job done. The Daily Prophet should be here soon, too.” At that moment, an owl swooped down and dropped the newspaper right at Althea’s feet. “Well, there you go. You can write letters while I read the lies in The Daily Prophet.” Sirius laughed.

Althea read the paper, still full of stories about Sirius, in the big breezy kitchen; while Sirius sat at the table and wrote his letters with the dogs lounging at his feet on the braided rug covering the hardwood floor. The day was practically perfect, with a cooling breeze blowing the linen curtains at the windows, further stirred by the ceiling fans in the kitchen and living room; and just a few fair weather clouds in the sky. It was a very peaceful day on the farm. They could hear Buckbeak calling as he explored the field and the sky behind the barn and helped himself to the free lunch buffet in the undergrowth of the fence rows.

Althea snorted in amusement as she read the paper.

“What?” asked Sirius, intrigued.

Althea shook her head and said, “You escaped a year ago – you'd think they'd give it up and move on to something else. Now you've been spotted in Timbuktu.” 

“Well, that's better than being spotted any where near here.”

“I wonder how long it will take for everybody to figure out that you're innocent?”

“Althea, it's already been 13 years. . .” Sirius started.

“I know, I know,” Althea admitted with a shrug of the shoulders. “It still just frustrates me to no end.”

Suddenly there were muffled howls and barks from under the butcher block table.

“What in the world?” Sirius said in a startled tone.

Althea looked under the table and then said, “Oh, Harold’s dreaming.”

“Dreaming?”

“Yeah, look at him.” Sirius leaned over and looked at the sleeping Rottweiler. They giggled over the antics of the dreaming dog, who continued to bark, howl, and run in his sleep until Sirius stood up, letters complete. 

Sirius, followed by the dogs, went to the barn to find the tropical birds Althea had mentioned to deliver his letters, while she went to the garden to harvest whatever was ready for picking. 

Sirius had a very serious look on his face when Althea came in from the garden late in the afternoon, with a basket full of chamomile and sweet peas. His black eyebrows were drawn together in almost a frown and he said, “You were really waiting for me?”

“Eh?” said Althea blankly. “Yes. I told you I would.”

“And I've never been as shocked as I was when you showed up in Azkaban.”

“Well, I had to talk to you.” Their thoughts went back to the day almost 13 years ago, when Althea had made a journey back to England, to try to get Sirius released from prison.

**Flashback** _“Althea, what are you doing here?” Sirius hissed through the bars of his cell, even as he reached for the hand she'd extended to him._

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“Trying to get you out,” she'd hissed just as vehemently.

“What?”

“I've already been to the Ministry - fat lot of good that did. Tell me what happened.”

“Where were you?”

“You didn't get the owl I sent?”

“You sent an owl?”

“Well, yeah, Sirius, we had a stupid fight; I wouldn’t have left without sending you word.”

“So where were you?”

“Well, right after I got home that night, my mom called. My granny had had a stroke and I had to get home as fast as possible, if there was a hope of me saying good-bye to her.” Just the memory of that awful night – on top of being very tired - brought tears to Althea’s eyes.

“Your granny died?”

“Yeah, she did.”

“Did you make it in time?”

“Barely. I made a portkey that took me right to the hospital. I made it in time for her to know that I was there.” Althea’s eyes were even mistier at the recollection of her granny. “She died two days later.” 

“I'm sorry I wasn't there, Althea.”

“I thought you were still mad at me.”

“So did I.” They exchanged the nearest thing to a chuckle that could possibly be imagined in Azkaban. The mist from the sea that surrounded the god-forsaken rock seemed to be rolling in the windows and under the doors. It was dank, damp, dark, forbidding, and so very, very sad in that place.

Althea's face broke and contorted in sadness and upset. “What happened, Sirius?” she asked, desperate to find out exactly how James and Lily had died and Sirius was in this hell hole.

“They were betrayed,” Sirius managed to whisper.

“By who? How?” Althea asked, desperate to understand.

“Wormtail,” Sirius answered with venom in his voice.

“But how?”

“James and Lily made him the secret keeper,” Sirius answered, sounding very tired and defeated.

“Why weren't you the secret keeper?” Althea asked in confusion. She was sure that they'd planned for Sirius to take on the burden of keeping the secret. It was a huge burden to be a secret keeper – of any secret for anyone. The spell was horridly complex and couldn't be broken even by death. Althea was certain that Sirius was strong and brave enough to bear the burden. Peter Pettigrew, or Wormtail, as his friends called him, never would be.

“I thought it would throw Voldemort off the trail, to use someone completely unexpected like Wormtail as the secret keeper.” 

“Good idea,” said Althea.

“It would have been, but he betrayed them. He told the secret of where James and Lily were to Voldemort.” Sirius's voice was barely audible, and the tone was dejected.

Althea could tell what he was thinking. “Oh, honey,” she said. “You couldn't have known. It's not your fault. You didn't betray them.”

“Yes, it is my fault, Althea!” Sirius suddenly roared as he dropped her hand and stormed to the other side of the cell. “If I'd been the secret keeper, it wouldn't have happened! James and Lily would still be alive!”

Althea flinched but didn't draw away from Sirius. She kept her hand through the bars, knowing that he would take it again when he'd calmed down. 

“Maybe so, and maybe no,” she said. “But you can't be responsible for what someone else has done.” She drew breath and steadied herself. “They're trying to tell me that you murdered Peter,” she said with a hint of question in her voice.

“No, I didn't. More's the pity.” The dejection was even worse in his voice now than before. 

“So what happened?”

“After I went to James and Lily's and found them. . .” Sirius couldn't continue until he drew breath and steadied his voice. He heard a barely controlled sob from Althea and walked back across the cell to hold her hand again. “I tracked Wormtail down. I found him in a street full of Muggles. He shouted things that made it sound like I'd betrayed them; like I'd let them be murdered. We drew wands. Before I could stop him, he cut off one of his fingers, cast a curse that hit the gas line under the street, and transformed into his rat self.”

By the time Sirius was done talking, Althea's head was hanging low, her face was buried in her left hand, but her right was still clinging to his. “Did you tell them all this?” she asked in a small voice.

“I tried to, dearest, but they're not going to listen to me.” Sirius's tone was a little more reasonable now.

“We'll just have to make them listen,” Althea said, sounding like she was regaining her usual backbone.

Sirius's free hand reached through the bars to touch her hair and face. “Thea,” he said, very gently. Althea pressed her head, her cheek, her lips against his hand. What she wouldn't give to be able to wrap her arms around him right now. There were tears streaming down her cheeks that he wiped away with his thumb. 

Althea continued on in a tone that made it clear she was trying to convince herself as well as him. “You're going to get out of here,” she said. “I don't know how long it's going to take, but you're going to get out of here. And when you do, I'll be waiting for you. You come find me.”

“Althea -” he started to say.

“I don't care how long it takes,” she interrupted him. “You come find me.”

_Before either of them could say anything more, one of the guards appeared by Althea and began trying to force her toward the door. She had time to say, “I love you,” and kiss his hand one more time before she was almost dragged away from him. She heard him say, “I love you,” and called back, “I'll wait for you!” before she was beyond his hearing._

 

**end flashback**

“The idea that you loved me helped keep me sane all those years,” Sirius said.

Althea burst into tears as she reached for him, to hold him tight, to make sure he wasn't a dream.

“What did you do after you left Azkaban?” he asked as he held her close and leaned his cheek on the top of her head.

“I went to see Dumbledore.”

“What did you tell him?”

“What he already knew: you didn't betray them, you weren't the secret keeper, you didn't murder Wormtail.” 

“He believed you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. He told me about it the night I left Hogwarts.”

“That why you came?”

“I came to find out if you really were crazy enough to wait for me all these years.”

Althea leaned her head back, rested her chin on his chest, and said, “Yes, I was. . . am. . . will continue to be.”

Sirius leaned his head down and very gently kissed her. It was a rather short kiss, but a kiss nonetheless. It was enough to reawaken all the feelings they'd had for each other, which had lain dormant, like seeds in the desert that just need rain to bloom. This first kiss was the first little rain shower needed to reawaken love.

Althea hugged him closely again and said, “I'm going to start dinner.” She walked into the kitchen and started rummaging in the pantry and cabinets. 

While Sirius watched Althea decide between green beans and corn, he asked, “Will you cut my hair later?”

This took Althea off-guard, “What?” she said, as she looked around at him.

“When we were in school, remember? You used to cut my hair for me.”

Althea took her mind off dinner and bad old memories and looked at Sirius’s hair, which would have been a beautiful black waterfall, if it wasn’t so matted and tangled, and said, “I would imagine that you’d love to get rid of that mop.”

“Althea, it’s to my elbows. I want it gone!”

She laughed and said, “All right, yeah, I'll cut it after dinner.”

 

“Tomorrow,” she said as she sat him down in a kitchen chair and draped an old towel around his shoulders, “I think I, at least, will have to venture into the land of Muggles and acquire more clothes for you,” she remarked as she started cutting his hair. “Do you want to come?” His hair was so long and matted that she didn't even try to comb it out at first; she just cut the worst of it off; she'd worry about finessing it later. 

“Do you think it will be safe?”

“Well, we won't be in the wizarding world and your name and face haven't been plastered all over America the way they were all over Britain, according to Dumbledore. 

“You talk to Dumbledore?” Sirius sounded very surprised. Another very long, very black lock of hair fell on the floor. The dogs were fascinated by it and Althea kept having to warn them off to keep either of them from eating it. 

Althea nodded and said, “Not too often, but we do keep in touch. I make him give me updates on Harry and he tries to persuade me to come teach at Hogwarts.” She saw Harold investigating the huge pile of black hair and said, “Leave it!” Harold shot her a dirty look, but left the hair alone.

“So you knew I'd escaped before I arrived here?”

“I knew at least part of the story. Leave it,” she interrupted herself as Gretl decided to sniff at Sirius's hair on the floor. “It was all over The Daily Prophet that you'd escaped Azkaban; Dumbledore filled in the details.” Althea could tell what he was thinking and said, “I wasn't sure that you'd come here – it is a long, long way from Britain to North Carolina – but I hoped you'd know that you'd be safe here.”

“So it wasn't a complete surprise when I knocked on the door last night?”

“Oh, it was a surprise; just not quite as large a surprise as you thought it might be.” Althea looked at both her dogs and said, “That's it: OUT!” and shooed both the dogs out of the kitchen, after extracting hair from Harold's mouth.

“Are you glad I came?” Sirius didn't know what made him ask that question, but there it was, so now he'd have to deal with the answer.

Althea regarded him for a moment and said, “Yes, I am,” as a smile spread across her face. They just looked at each other for a moment, and then Althea said, “There's the worst of that hair gone. If you'll go wet it down now, I'll comb it out and finish cutting it.” 

Sirius ran upstairs to the bathroom and came back down in just a couple of minutes with his hair wet.

“If I came over there to kiss you, would you run?” Sirius asked with a big grin on his face as he started toward her.

“I'll meet you in the middle,” Althea answered and walked toward him.

They met in the doorway of the kitchen and living room. Sirius cupped her face in his hands, turned it upward and studied it. Her green eyes and his gray ones met and they studied each other's faces for what seemed to be hours.

“You are beautiful,” Sirius finally said to her. 

“Charmer,” Althea said in a teasing tone. How in the world could he think she was beautiful with her hair pinned up, no make-up on, in an old t-shirt and ratty shorts, barefoot, and covered in mud and his hair?

He shook his head and said, “I'm serious. You're more lovely now than you were before.”

“Trying to make me cry again?”

“I'm trying to figure out how I am so lucky as to have you back.”

Althea's face started to break and she said, “I'm the lucky one.” With that, they finally moved even closer to each other and into their first real kiss since he'd arrived. Althea's arms wrapped around him tight, trying to get him as close as possible. Sirius's hands left her face and one hand held the back of her head, while the other made its way down her shoulders and back, trying to get her as close as she was trying to get him. 

They finally broke apart and Althea said, “Whew. You've still got it, mister.”

Sirius laughed and said, “Only for you.” 

She kissed him again, quickly, and said, “Sit back down and I'll finish your hair.”


	2. Dancing and its Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We Are In Love, by Harry Connick, Jr.

Chapter Two   
Dancing and its Consequences

 

June 27, 1994

Sirius read and re-read the letter he'd just received from Dumbledore. Something was going on in Britain, even if it wasn't apparent to the wizarding community as a whole yet, and Dumbledore advised Sirius to keep his eyes and ears open for anything unusual. “Yeah, Dumbledore, I'll keep my eyes open for anything odd in Diagon Alley from North Carolina,” he sardonically said to the letter. _How long can I stay?_ he wondered. He looked up at the bang of the kitchen screen door and saw Althea coming in, a basket full of herbs in her hand. She stood on the hardwood floor of her kitchen, barefoot, her hair pinned back out of her face, ratty old shorts and a t-shirt on, with a smile on her face. _Not long enough,_ he answered himself. She caught the look on his face and asked, “What's the matter?” as the smile faded.

“Letter from Dumbledore. There are rumors of odd things going on in Britain.” He tried not to think about it, but there it was.

“What sort of odd things?” she asked.

“Remember Bertha Jorkins?”

“Bertha Jorkins?” Althea questioned herself. “Wasn't she a couple of years ahead of us? Nosy and dumb?”

“Yeah. She's gone missing. In Albania.”

Althea took a deep breath. She knew Voldemort had last been rumored to be in Albania as well as Sirius did. She steeled herself for whatever else he might say, but just said, “Huh,” in a tone that conveyed everything they both could think. 

Silence fell between them for a minute. Althea broke it by asking, “Is there anything you think you need to do about it right now?”

He looked up from the letter at her, could see _don't go_ written all over her face and said, “No.” Relief spread through Althea's whole body; he saw it happen. 

Althea regarded Sirius standing in the kitchen doorway and thought _How long can I have him?_ The thought that there might be some reason that he'd have to leave her behind in America clenched her heart. 

He'd only been here a couple of weeks, but already, the change in him was evident: He looked younger, he was gaining much-needed weight, and the haunted look that Azkaban brings to all its inmates was beginning to fade a little. She was afraid for him, though. She was afraid that he'd have to go back to Britain. Even if he wasn't caught and taken back to Azkaban, he'd have to hide somewhere and that certainly wouldn't do him any good. 

The thoughts kept whirling through her head as she took the chamomile and calendula flowers out of the basket and started spreading them on racks to dry.

_  
“I know you so well. I can tell by the sound of your voice  
if you're really in love with me;   
And you are. You are. . .”  
_  
Sirius had turned on the stereo and Althea could hear Harry Connick, Jr., singing about being in love. Herbs successfully laid out to dry out of the dogs' reach, she smiled to herself as she danced into the living room, where Sirius was moving to the bright big-band swing music himself.

“Dance with me,” Sirius said. Althea smiled in answer and moved into his arms and they danced around the living room, with the dogs trying to dance between them.   
_  
“. . . You know I can't lie;  
If I say to you 'baby, I love you',   
Then baby, I love you;   
And I do; I do. . .”   
_  
Harry’s smooth voice flowed out of the speakers.   
_  
“. . .I do. . . could it be that's the phrase you thought never would phase you;  
Well baby, you better hold on tight   
'Cause I'm the one who's supposed to  
Kneel down and propose, well alright; I might, I might. . .”_

Sirius looked at Althea with a wicked grin on his face and Althea answered his look with a wide-eyed wicked grin of her own as they whirled around the room. There was nothing like bright bouncy big band swing to brighten a dark mood.  
 _  
“. . . So, when I kiss you good-night…”_

Sirius stopped dancing, put his hands on either side of Althea’s face, tilted her head toward him and kissed her very gently and softly and slowly.   
__  
“. . . Just sleep tight with the thought that you'll  
Always be caught up in love with me;   
And you'll dream that the stars up above  
Have the answer of whether we'll be   
Or whether we won't be  
In love... Well, we are, We are.”

By the end of the song, they were standing in the center of the room with their arms wrapped around each other tight. Althea was weak in the knees from Sirius’s more and more urgent kisses. Sirius was having the same effect on her that he’d always had. She was happy and scared and a hundred other things at the same time and she thought she was going to cry from the overwhelming emotion of holding Sirius Black in her arms. She didn't ever want to let him go. 

Suddenly, Sirius stepped back. “Marry me,” he said.

Althea’s face went completely blank, “What?”

“Marry me,” Sirius was completely sincere in his look.

“Marry you?”

“Yes. Althea, marry me.”

Althea gave herself a shake and said, “Okay.” 

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes,” she said, still dazed from his kiss.

“When?” Sirius had a very urgent tone in his voice.

“I don’t know; soon, I guess?”

“Now,” said Sirius very determinedly.

“Now?” asked Althea a little more aware of what he was saying, “What do you mean, ‘now’?”

“Just what I said. What’s that Muggle city where people go to get married in a hurry?”

“Las Vegas?”

“Yes. That’s it. We’ll fly Buckbeak to Las Vegas and get married. Tonight.”

Althea looked at him blankly. “Sirius, if you’re in such a hurry, wouldn’t it be easier to just apparate there? It’s a fair distance, but it can be done.” She hoped that by throwing a little common sense into the conversation she could figure out why he was in such a hurry to get married right now. Not that she didn’t want to marry him, mind; she’d wanted to marry him since she was about 17, but things were dashing along very quickly.

He answered her thought, rather than her words, “Althea, I don’t know how long I’m going to be able to stay here and I want you to know exactly how much I love you and how much I want to spend every day with you. So let’s get married now - just in case I have to go tomorrow.”

Althea had to choke back tears for a minute. All the rumors they'd heard from Dumbledore and everyone else were starting to pile up. That had to be the real reason Sirius was suddenly in such a hurry to marry her. Althea regarded him for a moment, steadied her voice, said, “Well, okay, but we could go to Tennessee, instead. It’s much closer, and we can get married just as easily.”

“So let's go.”

“Let me change clothes.”

“Why do you want to change clothes?”

“Sirius, I'm not getting married in ratty old shorts and a t-shirt.”

“Oh. Okay,” he said, finally noticing what she had on and looking at his own clothes, “I'll change too.”

Sirius changed into the one pair of nice pants and dress shirt that Althea had bought him, while she changed into her favorite dress: a green print with a full skirt that reminded her of a party dress from the 1950s. 

“I like that dress on you,” he said intently.

“You do?” she asked, teasingly.

Sirius nodded as he said, “It brings out the green in your eyes. I never realized how green they really are.” 

“Eh,” said Althea with a shrug, “next to Lily's eyes, mine always looked more hazel.”

“Well, they're gorgeous, whatever color they are.”

“Thank you, darling.”

“You're welcome.”

Sirius took her hand and pulled her toward the door, but she stopped. “What?” he asked.

“Honey, do you think we ought to take witnesses with us?”

“Like who?”

“My parents? T. R. and Kathy?”

“Won't that slow us down?”

“Yeah, all of them but Mom are Muggles, but they are my family and they won't be best pleased if I get married without them.”

Sirius narrowed his eyes at her. “You're not trying to back out, are you?”

Althea shook her head at him as she met his eye and said, “No. I've always wanted to marry you. I'd just like to do it with people who love us there, too.”

“Okay,” he conceded. “As long as it's soon.”

Althea nodded her head. “It will be.”

The announcement that Althea was going to marry Sirius Black in short order was met with gasps of shock from her parents, Barnabas and Dorcas Willow. Her brother and sister-in-law, Thaddeus and Kathy, were much more supportive and understanding about it; they'd married rapidly themselves almost fifteen years ago and had always said it was the best decision of their lives. 

The person most pleased, though, was Althea's niece, Shelby Jean, who had just turned five. The idea of wearing a frilly dress, with flowers in her hair, made Shelby shiver with excitement. 

 

July 1, 1994

The family made the trip to Tennessee with Sirius and Althea and they found a wedding chapel to marry in. The only family member missing was Althea's sister, Circe, who had managed to be incommunicado for the past four days. Dorcas had left plenty of messages at home and work for Circe, and didn't understand why in the world she wasn't returning any of them. Althea had a feeling it was Circe's unfounded but deep-seated jealousy of her, Althea. Dorcas was furious with Circe for not returning any phone calls. Althea decided it was just as well that Circe wasn't there. 

When they arrived at the chapel, Althea had been worried that Sirius's name might be known, but either the clerk didn't know or didn't care who Sirius Black or Althea Willow were, as long as they had valid identification and the necessary fee for the license. A wave of the wand and the clerk believed that Sirius had the valid identification he needed. 

“Althea Kathleen Black,” Sirius thought aloud. “Or would you prefer to be Althea Willow Black?” he asked as they walked out of the wedding chapel, family in tow, “That is, if you're going to take my name.”

Althea ignored the part about not taking his name – she was a very old-fashioned person and not taking her husband's name was a foreign idea to her, “I've always liked my middle name, so Althea Kathleen Black it is.” They smiled at each other as they walked along, hand in hand, and Althea said, “I think I'm going to like Althea Black.”

“I already do,” answered Sirius, as he leaned down to kiss her.

“Aw!” said the family behind them as a whole.

Sirius decided that Althea had been right to have her family there. Despite Circe, Althea's family was a very close and loving one. He looked at Althea, holding hands with Shelby the flower girl, and wondered what it would be like to have a family that actually liked to be together. It looked like he'd just joined one and it made him even happier that he'd married Althea. With that happiness, though, was an ache near his heart at the thought that he might have to leave them – her – soon.

Once they were finally home, Sirius decided to be old-fashioned for two minutes and swept Althea into his arms to carry her across the threshold. It was completely romantic, and Althea was even more putty-like in his hands as he kissed her and started through the door. . . until he banged her head into the door frame.

“OW!” she yelped and immediately started giggling.

“Are you all right? I’m sorry!” Sirius’s tone was very concerned as he set her on her feet in the living room and took her face in his hands, so he could look at her.

“Ow, I’m fine, honey,” she said as she rubbed a sore spot on the right side of her head. “I think my klutziness has rubbed off on you, though.”

Seeing that she was all right and not mad, Sirius laughed himself, “That’s one for the book: I get you married to me and the first thing I do is try to bash your head in.”

Althea snorted. “Don’t try to carry me upstairs, okay?” Sirius laughed more in answer as he moved slowly toward her with a lecherous look in his eye.

She answered his look with one of her own and said, “I know what you’re thinking.”

“You do?”

“Yep: You’re thinking that it would be awesome to skip dinner and head straight upstairs.”

“You read my mind, but who needs to go upstairs?” he said, as he turned her face toward his and moved in to kiss her. 

The kiss went on for some minutes and would have gone on longer and led to much more, but they were interrupted by big black dogs. Harold managed to butt his way between their legs, causing them to break apart, laughing.

“I think we’re being paged, dear,” Sirius said with a bit of annoyance in his voice.

“I think they’d like to heed the call of nature and have their dinner,” Althea answered, as she let the dogs out the front door. 

She stepped out on the covered porch that rang the length of the house and watched the dogs, to make sure they didn’t leave the yard or try to annoy Buckbeak. She sat down in one of the white rocking chairs on the porch and waited for the dogs to finish their business. It didn’t take long. They both started to bound around to the back of the house, toward Buckbeak, but Althea called, “Wanna eat?” The dogs almost turned around in mid-air to head for Althea and their dinner in the house.

Althea and dogs walked in to find Sirius puttering in the kitchen. She looked at him suspiciously and said, “What are you doing?”

“Well, since we were interrupted, we might as well eat dinner. I was just looking to see what was really quick to make.” 

Althea nodded in agreement with him while she measured out dog food and said, “Just want something quick, huh?” She walked over to the food dish holder, where both dogs were sitting, waiting impatiently for dinner, and put the bowls down for them. 

Sirius looked at her most solemnly and said, “YES,” in a most demanding and frustrated tone. 

Althea giggled at him and said, “Okay. Breakfast: that’s always quick.” She opened the refrigerator and took out eggs and bacon, and pulled a loaf of bread from the bread box. 

“Wanna help?”

“Certainly,” Sirius answered.

Two minutes later, Althea regretted asking if he wanted to help, as his idea of “helping” was to wrap his arms around her waist from behind so he could hold her still while he nibbled on her neck. She finally couldn't stand it any more and turned around in his arms and directed the aim of his kisses toward her lips. They finally broke apart when a loud klaxon went off in the kitchen.

“What is that??” Sirius yelled over the noise.

“Smoke alarm,” answered Althea as she turned on the vent fan.

“Why?” 

“It was a Muggle house; the dumb thing was already installed and I didn't think about taking it down.” She waved her wand and said, “Silencio,” and the dumb thing stopped.

“What set it off?”

“The bacon, I'd imagine,” she said as she looked in the skillet. 

For their wedding supper, they had burnt bacon and egg sandwiches. While they were sitting at the table across from each other, Althea looked at him and was suddenly misty-eyed. Sirius, being very much in love and thus paying attention to his bride, noticed: “What’s wrong?”

Althea laughed at herself and said, “Nothing’s wrong. Actually, at this moment, everything’s right. You’re here. We’re together. I don’t need anything else.” Sirius got up and walked around the table, where he took Althea’s hands and pulled her up from the chair, gathered her close into his arms, and picked up where they’d been when Harold had interrupted. 

Sirius kissed Althea more and more urgently as he backed away from the table and toward the staircase. He finally broke for air and swept her into his arms.

“You're not going to bang my head again, are you?” she asked, teasing and breathless.

Sirius grinned as he looked around the part of the downstairs he could see from the dining room table and said, “I don't see any obstacles between here and the stairs.”

He kissed her as he carried her across the living room and up the stairs to the bedroom, followed closely by the dogs. She kicked off her heels as he carried her into the bedroom.

Sirius set her gently on the bed and was about to crawl on it beside her, when suddenly, there was a large black head in his way. 

“AGH!” he yelled, as he realized that Harold the Rottweiler was between himself and his wife.

Althea giggled, tried to straighten her face at the dirty look Sirius gave her, then tried to find her stern dog owner voice. “Harold, off,” she managed to say. Harold, now joined by Gretl, just looked from one person to the other, tail wagging furiously. 

Althea heard a very frustrated sigh from Sirius. “Let me handle it, hon. I'll fix it so they won't interrupt us.” She picked up her wand and conjured two very hearty-looking bones from thin air. “Off,” she said again to the dogs, pointing to the bones now on the floor. “No, off!” she said, as Harold bounced off the bed, grabbed a bone, and prepared to bounce back onto the bed again.

“Down,” she said firmly to them both. “Stay.” Both the dogs looked at her, realized she really meant it, and decided to get down to the business of enjoying new bones. It could take hours to enjoy those bones completely.

“There ya go,” she said to Sirius. “Problem solved.”

“How long will they chew those bones?” Sirius asked.

“Long enough,” she said, “If we hurry.”

“Hurry what?” Sirius asked, with a lecherous look, as he kicked off his shoes and socks.

Althea just grinned lecherously back at him and moved to her knees, to kiss him where he sat on the edge of the bed. As she kissed him, she pulled his shirt tails out of his pants and ran her hands up his chest inside his shirt. 

He moved fully onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her, found the zipper pull on her dress and unzipped it. A cool breeze was coming in the open windows that made Althea gasp a little when it hit her back. The breeze also made her move closer to Sirius's warmth. He gently pulled the dress off her shoulders while she was busy unbuttoning his shirt. She shoved the shirt off his shoulders and he dropped it on the floor. 

“Help me with this dress,” she said and moved to pull it off over her head. He kissed her, then pulled her dress off and dropped it on the floor. While she still had her arms in the air, Sirius wrapped her in his arms more tightly than before, nibbled and kissed her right ear and down her neck, and let his hands wander down her back to find the clasp of her bra and unfasten it. 

One of Althea's hands rubbed his back and grabbed his shoulder when he found a sensitive spot on her neck, while the other tried to get his belt undone. She had to use both hands, but she finally got his belt undone, followed quickly by the button and zipper on his pants. 

“Oh, my,” she said in a whisper, as her hands wandered down inside his now-undone pants.

“Find something in there you like?” he asked, breathlessly.

“Uh huh,” she said, as he stood up and let his pants fall to the floor. 

She turned back the bedclothes and started to move under the sheet, but Sirius took her arm, pulled off her unfastened bra, and said, “Come here.”

“Okay,” she said, as she rose to her knees to kiss him again. His hands moved down her backside, inside her pantyhose and panties, and he had them off of her in seconds. His briefs joined the other clothes on the floor in short order. 

Sirius gently laid Althea back on the pillows and lowered himself on top of her. She opened her legs to let him closer than ever. 

“It has been a long time since I've done this,” he whispered. He kissed her eyelids, her cheeks, her neck.

“The last time was with you,” she answered, as she kissed all the parts of him she could reach: his neck, his chest. She ran her hands up his bare chest and found his nipples standing at attention, so she kissed them, too.

He accepted the gift she'd just given him, nodded his head, and gave it back. “Nobody since you.” He lowered his head to kiss her, as she raised hers to him. They kissed each other passionately and finally let all the desire that had built up for the past thirteen years control them. They rode the waves of desire over and over, until, finally spent, Sirius curled himself around Althea, pulled the covers up over them both, and whispered in her ear fiercely, passionately, “I. love. you. You heal me. You always have.”

She rolled over in his arms to face him and said, with tears in her eyes and a sleepy smile on her face, “I love you. You make me whole.” She moved just close enough to kiss him again, as he gently swept the curls back out of her face. They wrapped their arms around each other tight, and slept.


	3. The Whomping Willows

Chapter 3 – The Whomping Willows

 

Althea and Sirius arrived at her parents' house for a 4th of July picnic three days after their wedding. Althea was certain that her parents had turned it into a wedding reception, too, but she didn't tell Sirius; she was half-afraid he wouldn't come if he knew he was going to be accosted by all the Willows and McIntyres of her clan. And they were quite a clan.

When they arrived at the house, Althea looked at the number of cars and stopped dead. “Oh, mercy, it's worse than I thought!”

“Althea, where did all these cars come from?” Sirius sounded almost as stunned as Althea was.

“Well, what do you know?” Althea said as she went past a cute little sedan, “Circe has decided to grace us with her presence.” Seeing a Georgia license plate that assured her of the presence of her favorite aunt was a balm to the scrapes on her soul.

Sirius stopped her with a hand on her arm and turned her to face him. “How much of your family is here, dear?” he asked in a dangerous tone.

Althea looked at the number of cars and the varied states on the license plates and said, “Oh, most of them,” she said in a very high and unnatural tone.

Sirius looked at her darkly. 

“Hey, honey,” she said defensively, “I would have stopped Mom if I'd known, but I didn't know! Honest!”

Sirius just shot her another dark look. Althea started to tell Sirius that there were probably cousins here she hadn't seen since she was Shelby's age, but thought better of it. Besides, Shelby, herself, came tearing out the front door and raced right into Althea's arms.

“Aunt Ally, I missed you!”

“You did?”

“Uh huh! Whatcha been doin'?”

“Enjoyin' time with your Uncle Sirius.”

“Is he gonna stay forever?”

Althea looked over Shelby's head at Sirius, suddenly unsure of her voice. “I sure hope so, Shelby,” she managed to say. 

Sirius answered her look with his own and said, “I want to stay forever, Shelby.”

“Good!” the little girl said, as Althea set her on her feet. “I like you, Uncle Sirius.”

Shelby turned to bounce back in the house, while Althea and Sirius followed more slowly, hand in hand. “You know, you just got one of the great niece accolades.”

“Oh?” Sirius answered the amused tone in Althea's voice.

Althea nodded slowly and said, “Oh, yes. Shelby is very particular about who she says she likes.”

Sirius looked surprised , “I heard her say it to you a dozen times on our wedding day!”

“Uh huh,” Althea said, “And you watch to see if she ever says it to Circe.”

“She likes you better than Circe?”

“Umm, yes,” Althea answered, trying not to sound smug, “If I can say it myself.”

Sirius looked a little confused and concerned at this remark, but let it pass with a mental note to keep an eye on Circe and Shelby. There was something so charming about Shelby, who bounced like a rubber ball more often than not, had eyes just like Althea's, and was a source of endless entertainment; that he really couldn't imagine anyone not liking Shelby or treating her well. The child was so captivating, she might even have been able to do a number on his mother. 

Althea walked into her parents' house, holding Sirius's hand and trying not to feel like she was dragging him into a lion's den, took a deep breath and steeled herself for the onslaught. She loved her family with all her heart - in small doses. All of them at one time, though, were a bit much. 

She made her way into the kitchen, where she found her mother trying to sort through all the contributions for the potluck dinner that had been planned. Althea handed over a plate full of her best brownies. “All of them, Mama? You had to invite all of them?” she said in an undertone to Dorcas when they were the only two in the kitchen for twenty seconds.

Dorcas just glared at her. “I didn't invite them, dear, that was your daddy's doing.” Dorcas didn't like large crowds any more than Althea did. 

“Oh, I'm gonna kill him,” she muttered. Any other conversation she might have had with her mother was interrupted by the appearance of one of the seemingly millions of cousins, in search of her and Sirius. 

“Ally! Where you at, Ally?” 

“Oh, help me,” Althea said in an undertone to Dorcas. She only heard a snort in answer. Suddenly in front of her was one of the McIntyre boys, Dale, who had Sirius by his shirt sleeve. “Hello, Dale!” she said in an unnaturally cheery voice.

“Why in the world did ya go an' marry this feriner, Ally?”

Althea looked at Sirius with apology written all over her face, looked at Dale, who was already drunk enough to sway in a breeze and said, “'Cause he's cute.”

Reason enough for Dale. He fell on Althea's shoulder laughing out loud, the fumes from his breath containing enough alcohol to send Althea reeling. 

“Help me!” Althea mouthed over Dale's shoulder. Sirius was at a loss as to what to do with a very large drunk Southerner. 

Thankfully, T. R. had caught the whole exchange and heaved Dale off Althea's shoulder and out the door. “Come on, Dale, let's go find a tree to rest under.”

“Good idea!” Dale slurred as he leaned on T. R.'s shoulder. “'Cause he's cute,” he muttered to himself and laughed out loud some more. “Didja ever hear tell of that for a reason to get married, there, T. R.?”

“Yeah, Dale, that's why I married Kathy.”

“'Cause she's cute?”

T. R. nodded. “'Cause she's cute.” He deposited Dale on the ground in the shade of a big beautiful live oak tree. Dale was unconscious by the time T. R. got back to the house. 

“Oh, thank you!” Althea said to her brother.

“You're welcome. Now, I'm gonna find out who in hell let him start drinkin' this early!” Before he stormed off, in search of a beer cooler and some heads to knock together, he turned to Sirius and said, “I'm sorry about that Sirius. Dale's normally an all right guy, until he starts drinking.”

Sirius had the grace to shrug off T. R.'s apology. “That's all right. I've been attacked by worse than him.”

“Decent way to take it, Sirius, but still, he shouldn't have been allowed to start drinkin' this early. Wanna help me find his stash and get rid of it?”

“All right,” said Sirius.

Althea chimed in, “Just don't drink it all yourselves.” 

“Don't worry, Ally. I'll give him back to you in one piece.” T. R. grinned wickedly and started for the back door, followed by Sirius. 

“Uh huh. Just make sure it's in one piece that can get home under his own power!” she called after them. 

Althea looked around the crowded house after T. R. and Sirius had walked out the kitchen door, and caught the eye of Dale's sister, Angie. She motioned Angie into the kitchen where they might have a small area for private conversation. Angie was Althea's blonde and gorgeous cousin, who stood not even as tall as Althea. She embodied “Don't mess with short women,” even more than Althea did. 

“What is up with Dale?” Althea asked Angie. “And where's Brooke?”

Angie gave a rueful laugh. “Cha,” she said. “We won't be seein' Brooke no more!”

“Why not?” Althea asked in her broadest accent. This sounded like it was going to be good.

“She ran off,” Angie proclaimed, causing Althea's eyes to widen.

“With who?” Althea asked. She'd known Brooke most of her life and the idea that Brooke would run off and leave Dale for someone else was not outside the realm of possibility.

“Her name is Sophie,” Angie said, sounding like she was enjoying the drop of the bombshell. Angie was not disappointed by the open-mouthed, wide-eyed look Althea gave her in answer. They were immediately joined by Kathy and Dorcas.

“You're kidding!” Kathy said in shock.

“I wish I was!” Angie said, sounding a bit more shocked herself. “She's one of those artistic types that comes down here from New York? Well, at least that's where I think she said she was from when she came in the shop two weeks ago.” Angie ran an arts-and-crafts shop that attracted lots of tourists. “She talked so fast I could barely understand one word in three she said!”

“Is that where she met Brooke?” Althea asked, finally regaining the power of speech.

“Yeah, I suppose so. Brooke was in the shop right then.”

“So when did she run off with this Sophie person?” Dorcas asked.

“Day before yesterday.” Angie now sounded angry with her erst-while sister-in-law. 

Althea took in the look of fury on Angie's face, and hoped that Brooke was never within range of a shotgun in Angie's hands. Althea had seen Angie shoot: The girl could have been a sniper. “Poor Dale,” she said, which was answered with nods by the other women. 

“No wonder he's drunk before noon,” they all said together. 

 

It took Althea a solid hour to work through all the people in the house and the yard before she found Sirius again – he and T. R. had been consuming the contents of Dale's beer cooler with some of the other relatives – and took him off to meet Ya Ya. Ya Ya was Barnabas' mother, Penelope Willow. She'd been born in Greece and escaped right before World War 1. She'd met Barnabas' father, George, in England, and George had brought her home to North Carolina. Ya Ya was one of everybody's favorite people. 

“Ya Ya, this is Sirius,” Althea said as she knelt beside Ya Ya's chair on the back porch. Ya Ya was sitting where she could see and hear everything, but was out of the sun. Ya Ya looked up and up at Sirius's face, but it was a real strain on her neck, so Sirius knelt down beside Althea to pay his respects to the family matriarch.

“How do you do, Ya Ya?” Sirius said, taking her hand and kissing it in a gentlemanly fashion. Ya Ya was putty in his hands and Althea beamed. 

“Ah,” Ya Ya said, “You've married my Althea, my healer, have you?”

“Yes, I have, Ya Ya,” Sirius said.

Ya Ya leaned forward so that her forehead was almost touching Sirius's. “You'll take good care of my girl?”

“Yes, ma'am, I will,” Sirius wisely answered.

The call to food was heard all over the house and yard. Ya Ya started to get up, but Althea said, “Ya Ya , stay here. I'll bring you a plate.”

“Oh, she's so good to me, my Althea.” 

Althea beamed at her. “Sirius, will you entertain Ya Ya and I'll bring enough for all of us?”

“All right,” Sirius answered. He was already taken with the tiny woman in the porch chair and he had a feeling that getting to know her would give him quite a few clues to Althea. He pulled up another chair as Althea walked toward the groaning tables of food. 

“Althea, you can handle three plates?” Ya Ya called after her.

“Oh, no worries, Ya Ya, I'll manage,” she said over her shoulder. 

As she was standing in line, Dorcas joined her and said, “Ally Kay, do you realize what you have just done to Sirius?”

Althea spun around and looked at her mother in shock. “What?”

“You've left him to Ya Ya,” Dorcas said in a teasing but shocked tone.

Althea gave a dismissive wave of the hand. “He can handle her. He'll just turn on the charm and she'll be butter in his hands.”

Dorcas looked at her like she was crazy. “On another subject,” Dorcas said, “I've discovered that we can blame the larger-than-normal crowd on Circe.”

Althea gave her mother a dark look. “Really. And she had you and Dad blaming each other. I'm not surprised. You'll notice that she's not said a word to me yet today.”

“Have you gone looking for her?”

It was Althea's turn to look at her mother like she was crazy. “Do you want a scene?” At the look on her mother's face she said, “I thought not.”

“Something will have to be said,” Dorcas threatened.

Althea tutted. “She'll have some kind of perfectly logical reason for missing my wedding.” Dorcas looked surprised. “Well, it'll be logical to her,” Althea conceded.

Althea returned to Sirius and Ya Ya with two overloaded plates of food and an empty plate. There was more than enough for the three of them, especially since Ya Ya didn't tend to eat much. They were joined by Dorcas and Barnabas, who engaged Ya Ya in conversation while they ate.

Sirius leaned over to Althea and quietly said, “I think I've been threatened.”

“By who?” Althea said in shock. She looked like she wanted to jump up and hex whoever would dare to threaten Sirius.

“Ya Ya,” he laughed.

Althea's eyes widened in shock. “What did she say?”

“Did you know you belong to the Southern Mafia?” Sirius asked.

“What?!” Althea's eyes were opened even more in shock.

“Yes. Now that I've married you, I've joined the Southern Mafia.” Sirius was still laughing, which could be good.

“What, exactly, did she say?” Althea asked, horrified and amused at the same time.

“She said, 'We're like the Mafia: once you join you can never leave.'” Sirius chuckled and then realized that Althea wasn't laughing. “That's not funny?”

Althea just said, “Eh, heh. She wasn't kidding.” Sirius sobered rapidly. Althea just shook her head at him and said with a laugh, “You should have heard what she said to Kathy. 'We're like the Mafia'? You got off easy, pal.” 

“And Dale's wife?” Sirius asked, having heard the story of Dale's runaway wife from Angie's husband, Jake.

Althea snorted. “Wrong side of the family. Ya Ya would have talked Dale out of marrying that trollop.”

The hot day proceeded as all large gatherings of family on national holidays proceed: there was too much food, not enough shade, a bit of volleyball and baseball, and finally the leave-taking began. 

Althea finally caught sight of Circe by staying close to Ya Ya all afternoon. It was an unwritten rule: at any gathering where Ya Ya was present, all members of the family were expected to find Ya Ya and speak in pleasant tones to her for at least five minutes. Circe waited to present herself to Ya Ya until people were starting to leave. She may have thought that she'd be able to sneak out without a scene, but she had forgotten that she had to deal with her grandmother first. 

“Ah, my Circe! Finally you come to speak to your old Ya Ya!” Ya Ya grabbed Circe's hand and held it in a death grip.

“Have you had a good time today, Ya Ya?” Circe asked, trying to sound as though she hadn't ignored her ninety-year-old grandmother for the past three hours.

“Yes, yes, this man your sister married, he's a good one, eh?” 

Circe was now forced to acknowledge the presence of Sirius. She still didn't look at Althea. “Yeah, Ally picked a handsome one.”

“And how was the wedding, then, Circe? Did you stand up with your sister, eh?”

Hoping that Ya Ya wasn't looking at her, Althea shut her eyes and tried really hard not to bite all the way through her lips, which she'd sealed tight. If she wasn't extremely careful, she was going to burst out laughing or worse, give Ya Ya an earful. 

Sirius saw the look on Althea's face, leaned over and quietly said in her ear, “Ya Ya knows, doesn't she?”

Althea just nodded. She had her eyes open now and was studying a line of ants marching across the deck in search of crumbs. She didn't dare look at anybody until Ya Ya was done with Circe. 

Circe was boxed in and knew it. “I – I wasn't there, Ya Ya .” Circe almost choked on the admission that she hadn't been at her only sister's wedding.

“What?!” Ya Ya threw back her head so she could get a good look at Circe's face. “What is this? You missed your only sister's wedding?? How can this be? What could be so important that you missed your only sister's wedding?”

Sirius saw Circe throw a look of hatred at Althea. He almost said something, but decided that his energy might be better spent by keeping Althea and Circe from killing each other. Althea never looked up from her study of the marching ants and she had yet to say a word to Circe. Sirius leaned over and put his left arm over Althea's shoulders. With his right hand, he grabbed hold of her right hand – her wand hand. It looked like a romantic move, but actually he had a grip on her so she couldn't hex her sister.

“Well, there wasn't much notice. . .” Circe started to say.

“What? Your work and your life is so important that you can't rearrange it for your sister's wedding? He looks like a good one, Circe, I don't think Althea will have another wedding!”

Sirius gave Althea one of his best smug looks. Althea rolled her eyes and shook her head at him. 

“She missed my high school graduation!” Circe blurted out, trying to wrest her hand from Ya Ya 's grip.

This finally made Althea say something. “I was out of the country, Circe.”

“Well, that's a convenient excuse,” Circe shot back in derision.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Ya Ya said. “Because your sister missed your graduation by being in another country, you decide to miss her wedding?” The tone in Ya Ya's voice would have made a lesser mortal apologize to Althea and Sirius immediately. Not Circe. “And when was it you graduated high school, Circe? Huh?”

“1981,” Circe said in a low voice. 

“When in 1981?” Sirius asked Althea.

“It would have been late May,” Althea answered. 

“1981!” Ya Ya shouted. “It's what, now, 1994? Thirteen years later you miss your sister's wedding because she missed you getting a piece of paper?” Ya Ya dropped Circe's hand. “Cha! That's no way for a sister to act, I am thinking!” Ya Ya 's head spun to look at Althea and Sirius, sitting on the other side, their backs to the sun. “Althea!” Ya Ya said loudly. “Why are you not angry with Circe for missing your wedding, huh?”

“It wouldn't do any good, Ya Ya ,” Althea said calmly. “It's over and she missed it.”

“Oh, no,” said Ya Ya . “You should be angry with your sister for missing your wedding!”

Suddenly, Althea was angry. “Why did you miss my wedding, Circe? How many messages did Mom leave you in three days and you couldn't be bothered to call back?”

“Well you didn't make any attempt to come home for my graduation!”

Althea and Sirius exchanged a look. “Circe, I was out of the country!”

“You could have come back!”

Althea and Sirius exchanged another look, full of history and bad memories. “No, I couldn't have, Circe, and there's no way to explain exactly what it was that kept me in England then.” Sirius shook his head in agreement with Althea. “And I sent you a card and the pair of pearl earrings you're wearing right now! What did I get from you for getting married? Ignored.”

“You get plenty of attention from everybody else – you don't need me.”

“Attention from everybody else isn't attention from my only sister.”

“I don't have to put up with this,” Circe snarled and started to walk into the house.

Barnabas Willow finally spoke. “Yes, you do. Get back out here and sit down. Now.” Recognizing the authority of her father's voice, Circe did as she was told, but she sat as far from the others as  
possible, with her arms crossed on her chest and a look of thunder on her face. 

“Bring that chair over here by Ya Ya and explain yourself.” Barnabas had put up with a lot from Circe over the years, but his girls were now 34 and 30; it was time for Circe to grow up. Circe didn't  
move. “Now, Circe.” 

Circe dragged the chair over closer to Ya Ya and right in the way of anyone who came out the back door. 

“Why did you ignore repeated phone calls from your mother, at work and home?” Barnabas grilled Circe.

“I didn't want to go to Ally's wedding.”

“You ignored your mother.” 

“I was ignoring Ally.”

“Inexcusable.”

Sirius leaned over to Althea and said very quietly, “He sounds like a lawyer.”

“He is,” Althea whispered back. Part of her wanted to shush Sirius; she'd never seen her dad quite this mad at Circe before. Oh, there had been plenty of times when Circe had been called out in this manner in their childhood, but they were all in their thirties now, it was time for Circe to quit acting eleven, instead of thirty.

“What did your sister do so that you wanted to miss her wedding?” Barnabas was hitting his stride now. Letting his lawyer persona take full possession of him, he paced around the deck as if it was a courtroom and Circe was a hostile witness. 

“She missed my graduation,” Circe said again. It was starting to sound like a pretty thin excuse and Circe knew it. 

“Did she not acknowledge your graduation with a card and gift?”

“Yes,” Circe admitted grudgingly.

“And thirteen years later, you think you can miss her wedding because she wasn't present at an event that she acknowledged with a gift that you're wearing today?”

“She always gets all the attention!” Circe sounded like a spoiled brat. She was.

“Oh, I do not!” Althea interjected.

“Everybody loves Ally! 'What's Ally doing now? How's Ally doing?' That's all I hear!” Circe shot back angrily.

“From who?” Althea asked in concert with her father.

“Althea the healer, my Althea, even Ya Ya gives you more attention than me!”

“Well, could that be because I sat in the hospital with her every night for two weeks after she had a heart attack?”

Circe gave Althea a derisive look.

Barnabas gave Circe a hard look and said, “Circe, this has gone on long enough. Could it be that Ally receives more attention because she gives more?”

“No, everybody just loves her more.”

“And why is that, Circe?”

“Everybody just loves her more because she's a witch and I'm not.”

“Is that what this has always been about?” Althea asked, sounding amazed. “Do you think that I've bewitched everyone we know so that they'll love me and not you?”

“Yes!”

Althea gave Sirius another look that said, I can't believe her. To Circe she said, “Circe, that's an impossible thing to do. The witch or wizard who tried it would be in prison for life.”

“Well how would I know? You and Mom never talked about it in front of me.”

“What? You'd rather we'd rubbed your nose in it every day of your life that we could do things you couldn't?” Dorcas inserted. “What kind of mother would I be if I'd done that?”

Circe held her tongue. 

“Circe, there's a strict rule in the magical world not to let it be known to those who can't do magic that we can,” Althea said, trying to bring a little reason to the conversation. “It was put in place as a  
protection for us, and also to avoid things just like this. Who wants it rubbed in their face that there's a talent out there that can do these amazing things, but not everyone can have it?”

“Maybe we should have told you more, Circe,” Dorcas admitted, “But you never seemed very interested in what we were doing.”

“The fact remains,” Barnabas began again, still in lawyer mode, “that you missed your sister's wedding and you ignored your mother's repeated phone calls.”

“I'm sorry,” Circe said in a very begrudging tone.

“That's not really good enough, Circe Louise,” Barnabas said. “No matter what happened in the past, you've been intolerably rude to your only mother and your only sister. You've left a bruise on Althea and Sirius's wedding that cannot be undone because you wanted to get even with your sister over something that happened thirteen years ago. You weren't there, and worse, you ignored the event. Whether Althea and Sirius ever talk to you again is up to them. Myself, I wouldn't blame them if they ignored you for the next year.”

Sirius wisely said nothing. He could see that there were forces at work here that had nothing to do with him, and the wrong word from him right now could make matters a lot worse. 

Althea screwed up her face, as if considering what to say. Her allergies were bothering her, so she rubbed her left eye, hoping to relieve some of the ache of full sinuses. It looked like she was considering whether to forgive Circe or not, but she wasn't; her head just hurt. Circe had finally been thrown on the mercy of the court of family; she needed to lie there a while and writhe, in Althea's opinion. 

T. R. had been sitting on the sidelines watching the action from a safe distance. He finally spoke and said, “There's gotta be a resolution to this somehow. Ally, are you willing to forgive Circe?” 

Althea drew a deep breath and said, “Well, I might be, if she acted like she wanted to be forgiven.”

“Circe?”

“Why couldn't you apologize for not being here when I graduated?”

“Circe, that's so thin. I apologized that I couldn't leave Britain in the card I sent with the gift that you obviously liked. You have no idea what was going on then, but it looks like you need to be enlightened.” She looked at Sirius.

“Althea, are you sure?” he asked. 

Althea shrugged. “Yeah.” She looked at Circe and said, “Way back in 1981, when you were preparing to graduate high school, and I was almost done with my fourth year of Healer training, there was a dark wizard on the loose in Britain. Lord Voldemort, he called himself. He was the most powerful dark wizard seen in about forty years. To resist him, or his followers, was to bring a death sentence down on yourself. Sirius and I belonged to a group that fought Voldemort tooth and nail. There was one wizard Voldemort feared - ”

“Dumbledore,” Dorcas interrupted.

Sirius looked at Dorcas in surprise. “Yes, Dumbledore,” Sirius said. “Althea and I belonged to a group that Dumbledore started for the sole purpose of stopping Voldemort,” he continued. “One of the things that Dumbledore feared at the time was that Voldemort would try to extend his powers beyond Britain.”

“It was a very real possibility right then,” Althea added.

“Why would non-magical people care?” Circe asked, beginning to sound a little interested.

Sirius and Althea both shot her exactly the same sideways look. “Do you think he only murdered wizards?”

“This mad man, he killed people who weren't magic?” Ya Ya asked.

“Many of them, Ya Ya ,” Sirius said. 

“Most of the unsolved murders at the time could be blamed on Voldemort and his Death Eaters,” Althea added.

“Death Eaters?” Circe asked, sounding as if that was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard.

Althea shrugged. “That's what Voldemort called them. It's weird: Dumbledore thinks that he was on a quest to become immortal, hence the term 'Death Eaters', but he murdered a horrid number of people on the way.”

“May, 1981, was near the height of the war against Voldemort,” Sirius said. 

“Our best friends, James and Lily, were already in danger,” Althea said. “We didn't know why at the time, but Voldemort was after them personally.” She stopped and looked at Circe. “I couldn't leave, Circe. Lily was my best friend, as close to me as I always wanted you to be, and she was in grave danger. I couldn't leave if there was a possibility that my staying would save her life.”

“And James's,” Sirius added. Althea nodded. 

“Did it work?” Circe asked.

Althea and Sirius looked at each other. Terrible memories flashed over both their faces. 

Dorcas Willow caught the look and knew enough of what had happened to know that Ally and Sirius might have been separated for twelve years, but they were partners and they always had been.

“It did for that moment,” Althea finally said.

“So where are Lily and James now?” Circe the callous asked.

Althea bit her lip and couldn't speak. 

“Dead,” Sirius finally said very quietly. “Halloween, 1981, Voldemort killed both of them and almost killed Harry.”

“Harry?” Circe asked.

“Their son. He was fifteen months old. Voldemort murdered James and Lily and tried to use the same curse to kill Harry.” Althea had found her voice, but it was very quiet.

“No one knows why, exactly, but the curse bounced off Harry's forehead – left a big scar on him – and hit Voldemort.” 

“So Voldemort's dead,” T. R. said.

Althea and Sirius shook their heads. “Dumbledore doesn't think so,” said Sirius. “He thinks Voldemort's biding his time, rebuilding his strength, working toward a comeback.”

“Were you here, then, Ally?” asked Kathy.

Althea nodded. “Granny died, so I came home.”

“Oh, no,” said Kathy. “So you found out about. . .”

“The day of Granny's funeral,” is all Althea could say. She leaned her head on Sirius's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and held her into his side tightly. She didn't break down, but it was a near thing. She could feel that Sirius was having trouble keeping his emotions in check, too. 

“I'm sorry, Ally,” Circe said in a sincere tone.

“Thank you, Circe.”

The collected Willows sat on the back porch for a few minutes in silence, gathering themselves and making sense of the revelations that had just been shared: the source of Circe's jealousy and what it had cost Althea to be at home for her grandmother's funeral.

Althea was just about to say something to Sirius about heading home, when Angie and Jake came barreling out the back door. "Ally! Sirius! Come here!"

"I didn't do it!" Althea shouted in reflex. Everyone burst into laughter.

"Yes, you did!" Angie said, still laughing and smiling. "You two come with us!" Angie grabbed Althea's hand, while Jake grabbed Sirius, and the newlyweds were pulled through the house, to the front porch. 

"Angela Scarlett," Althea said in her most threatening teacher tone, "If you've done what I think you have, I'm gonna hurt you!"

"Whatever," Angie said, giving this threat the derision it deserved. "I'm a better shot than you. Meaner, too. Now, you and Sirius get out the front door." 

Althea and Sirius found themselves shoved out the door and onto the porch, and found the entire clan standing in the yard, looking at them. "SURPRISE!" they all yelled together. 

Sirius was completely thunderstruck. He'd never seen a family that acted the way the Willows and McIntyres did. As embarrassing as it might be, he was also touched that Althea's family thought enough of her (and therefore of him, too) that they'd thrown together a wedding reception for them with three days' notice. 

Althea did exactly what her family expected of her: she turned on her heel and walked back in the door. She heard laughter behind her and walked straight into Angie, who turned her back around and shoved her back outside. 

On the front porch, along with all the family - and it appeared now that it really was all of them - there was a wedding cake, courtesy of Althea's cousin Carrie, who was a part-time caterer. Beside the hastily-arranged card table containing the required cake and punch, there was another table full of gifts and cards. 

"!!!!!!!!!!" said Althea and Sirius. "Y'all didn't have to do this," she said to her family, still thunderstruck that they could throw this together in just a few days.

"Yes, we did," said Carrie, coming up to hug Althea. "I know how you are. You ain't getting married again.”

“Thank you, Carrie," Althea said quietly.

"You and him go cut the cake," Carrie said. She looked at Sirius, stuck out her hand, and said, "I'm one of Ally's many cousins, Carrie McIntyre."

"Thank you very much, Carrie. It's a pleasure to meet you," Sirius said as he shook her hand.

"OH, Ally! With an accent like that, no wonder you married him!" Carrie exclaimed to general laughter.

Althea looked around at her family with a bemused smile. All of them were there to celebrate her and Sirius. Together they were loud and funny and overwhelming to somebody like Sirius, but they were hers. Dale had slept off enough alcohol to join the group; Ya Ya had come through the house after Althea and Sirius with Mom and Dad; T. R. and Kathy were near the front of the gang in the front yard; Travis was being a typical seven-year-old boy (meaning he was covered in dirt); Shelby was doing her best imitation of a hyperactive rubber ball. 

Althea looked at Sirius and saw an even more bemused smile on his face than was on hers. Sirius had never enjoyed family like this. He had relatives enough, but they weren't really family. They didn't really care enough to join in all the celebrations and mournings together, the way the McIntyres and Willows did. When Sirius looked at this huge group of people he'd joined, he saw a lot of love around him. The longing to never leave was even stronger than before in Sirius. It wasn't just Althea he didn't want to leave; he didn't want to leave this Southern Mafia he'd been accidentally lucky enough to marry into. 

“Ally, you and Sirius cut the cake!” Carrie said again. 

“Okay,” Althea said. She nodded her head toward the cake as she looked at Sirius. “Come on, honey. We must fulfill our duties as the newlyweds.”

As they walked around the cake table, Sirius said quietly, “You were trying to avoid all this, weren't you?”

“Yep,” she admitted just as quietly.

“You know they're all crazy about you?”

Althea looked up at him and said, “Yeah, I know. That's why I'm giving them what they want: a reason to be loud and happy, and to drink.” Sirius laughed.

The cake was cut and shared, the punch was poured and drunk, and gifts had to be opened. 

“Aunt Barbara!” Althea exclaimed, after opening one large and rather flat package. It contained a cross-stitched wedding sampler with their names and their wedding date on it. Sirius was flabbergasted – he'd never seen such delicate and intricate stitchery before. “How did you do this?”

“Oh, I had it started and just had to add the names and date,” Aunt Barbara said breezily. 

“It's beautiful,” Sirius said. “Thank you.” To Althea, he said, “I didn't know people still did this kind of stitchery.”

“Aunt Barbara does,” Althea said. “She taught me.”

“How is she your aunt?”

“She was married to Mom's older brother. Dale, Angie, and Carrie are her kids.”

“Ah,” Sirius said, “Okay. The family is starting to come together for me. And your uncle?”

“He died last year. . . heart attack.”

Althea's Aunt Faye, married to Barnabas' brother, Silas, came up to them after the gifts were opened and said, “Ally I'd have gotten you something besides a gift certificate, but there wasn't much time!”

Althea smiled at Aunt Faye and said, “That's okay, Aunt Faye. We didn't get married for gifts.”

Uncle Silas joined them and said, “Ally Kay, are you sure this young man is going to treat you well?”

Althea's gaze didn't leave Uncle Silas's face as she felt Sirius's hand on her back. “Yes, I am,” she said with complete assurance.

“You looked me in the eye and didn't have to look at him, so I believe you,” Uncle Silas replied.

“Well, good!” Althea exclaimed with a laugh. “I'd hate to think I'd married a man I didn't believe would treat me well!” 

The real leave-taking finally began from the front porch. As a daughter of the house, Althea knew she was expected to stay until everyone was gone and help with the clean-up. She mentioned this Dorcas but Angie and Carrie piped up, “No, Ally, you and Sirius go on, if you're ready. We'll stay and help Aunt Dory and Uncle Barney clean up.”

Althea smiled one of her genuine smiles, the ones Sirius really loved, and said, “Thank you.” She made the rounds of goodbyes, hugging aunts, uncles, cousins, niece, nephew, siblings, parents, and finally, Ya Ya; and she and Sirius made it out the door and to Althea's Muggle car at long last.

“I feel like I have been beat up!” Althea said to Sirius in the quiet of the car.

“I feel like I just tried to beat the Whomping Willow,” Sirius replied.

Althea snorted. “Willows, honey, Willows. You have survived a run-in with all the Whomping Willows.” 

Sirius laughed with her.

 

 

“I noticed something yesterday,” said Sirius on the fifth of July.

“What?” asked his wife, looking up from the salsa she was making. 

“Every time your family called you 'Ally', you cringed,” answered Sirius, as he took a break from chopping onions. The tomatoes were ripe, so it was the perfect time to make and can salsa and tomatoes for chili and stew in the winter.

“I did?”

“Yes. Why?” 

“I hate that name.” Sirius laughed. “No, I'm serious. I've never been happier than since I've been called 'Althea'.”

“When did that start?”

“At Hogwarts. When I was called up to be sorted, I was called 'Althea Willow' and that's what everyone called me from then on.”

“And that made a difference to you?”

“Oh, yeah. I'd been 'weird Ally Willow' most of my life and I found myself in a place where I wasn't weird at all. Being Althea separated me from everyone who thought I was weird.”

“So if I called you 'Ally' . . .” he said in a teasing tone.

“You'd only get a dirty look in answer,” Althea responded with a dark look. 

Sirius laughed, but had to admit that 'Ally' didn't seem to suit the person he knew at all. She'd always been 'Althea' to him and their friends, and it seemed to suit her personality better than the Southern 'Ally' of her childhood. 

“What did you do while I was in Azkaban?” Sirius asked, as they finished canning the tomatoes and salsa.

“I went to school a lot.”

“You didn't date anyone else?”

“No.” with an odd look on her face.

“Why not?”

Althea shrugged and said, “I told you I'd wait for you.”

“Althea?” Sirius asked in a surprised and confused tone.

“I always knew you'd come back to me, Sirius.” They exchanged a long look and Althea nodded. “I always knew.”

“How?” Sirius sounded a little flabbergasted that she waited almost 13 years for him.

“Call it faith. Or hope, or whatever, but I always knew.”

Sirius looked somewhat smug – he was really good at looking smug – that she'd waited all those years for him. He was also taken aback, pleased, confused, and quite a few other emotions. How deep could her faith in him go if she'd kept herself from other men all these years? Had she passed up chances to love and be loved for the hope of loving him again? The questions ran through his mind, but he didn't want to ask them. 

“Althea. . .” he started.

“Look, Sirius. When you were first thrown in Azkaban, I thought it wouldn't be long before you were released again. Even after that trip I made to England, I thought they couldn't keep you forever for something you hadn't done.” She shrugged and said, “It took longer than I expected, but, honey,” she walked across the kitchen and into his arms, where she looked up at him as she hugged him tight, “you were worth the wait.” 

Sirius smiled while he admitted defeat at knowing exactly why she'd had faith that he'd return and moved on to another subject. “What did you study in school?” 

“Well, Potions, of course, Healing, and I'm a certified midwife.” Sirius looked surprised at the last one. “I've always loved babies and it is a joy to me to bring a new baby into the world,” she said. 

“Those three things go together well, don't they?” The longer he thought about it, the more sense it made to him that Althea would be a Potions master, skilled in herbs, and a midwife. 

“Yeah, they do,” she agreed.

“Do you want to be pregnant yourself, someday?” asked Sirius, thinking that a baby with Althea would complete his world.

“Yes,” was all Althea said, but the tone and the look made it clear to Sirius that she'd been waiting for him to ask that question.

“What are the chances that you already are?”

“Not good at the moment, but that could change next week.”

“Do you want to try?”

“We won't do anything to stop it from happening.” 

“And we'll do all we can to make it happen,” answered Sirius with a lecherous smile, which Althea returned.


	4. Next Best Thing to Cell Phones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius and Althea struggle with being apart. Set during Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix.

Chapter 4 – Next-Best Thing to Cell Phones

July 5, 1994

 

Althea was standing in the front yard, just looking at the small part of the ocean that made it near her yard, enjoying the wind in her face, when Sirius came looking for her. “What are you doing?” he asked, scanning the horizon for approaching danger.

“Just enjoying the wind.”

“You like all this wind?” he asked, with a bit of surprise in his tone.

“Oh, yeah. The wind and I are very good friends.” she answered.

“You're friends with the wind?”

“You have to be to live on the ocean,” Althea answered.

“I'd never thought of it that way,” he responded.

Althea closed her eyes and just enjoyed the feel of the wind on her face for a minute. “Circe hates the wind, so she's always hated the shore.”

“Not everyone can love the wind,” Sirius said. 

“How do you feel about it?” she asked, looking at him, thinking that maybe there was a reason he didn't love the wind.

“I've never thought about whether I like the wind or not.” 

Althea looked back out at the water and said, “That doesn't surprise me, really.” Sirius looked down at her, as she said, “Men aren't as affected by the wind as women are. Many a woman on the prairie went crazy from the sound of the wind.”

“Huh?” asked Sirius intellectually.

“Some women just can't stand the sound of the wind all day, every day.”

“And you're not one of them?” Sirius asked, curious as to this new insight into Althea's personality.

“Nope. I love the wind.” She closed her eyes again, facing in the wind, with a slight smile on her face. “The wind and I have been friends since I was a little girl.” 

“What is it you like about the wind?”

Althea breathed deeply and said slowly, “I like the scents it brings. I like the changes in the weather it brings. Even the noises it makes don't bother me.”

“And Circe doesn't like the wind?”

“Not at all. But I don't want to talk about Circe. I want to enjoy the wind.”

Sirius smiled at Althea, took her by the hand and pulled her over to stand in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her, leaned his chin on her head, and made friends with the wind. 

A snowy owl suddenly appeared in the sky. “Hedwig!” said Sirius. She had a letter from Harry for Sirius. 

“Help!” it read, “Dudley's been put on a diet and I may die of starvation!” It continued. Althea joined Sirius's laughter. Harry sounded rather serious, but the idea of Harry starving because his cousin had been put on a diet sounded ludicrous to Althea. 

“No, he's not kidding,” Sirius said. “Vernon and Petunia haven't ever treated Harry as well as they ought.”

Althea sobered at this. “Well, we'll just have to make sure he gets something really good for his birthday, then.”

The cake Althea baked to send to Harry was one of the best she'd ever made – and Althea was a great cook. She used honey, instead of sugar, and threw in some other secret ingredients to make it a little healthier than birthday cake normally is. She made two of them so they could make sure it tasted good enough for a fourteen-year-old boy. 

“I don't know, Althea,” said Sirius after a slice. “This may not be good enough to send to Harry. I'll have to have another piece to make sure. . .”

“Sirius, that was your third,” Althea observed.

“Oh, yeah,” he admitted. “I suppose it's good enough to send Harry, then.”

 

August, 1994

 

A couple of weeks after Harry’s birthday, Sirius received a letter from Harry that caused him some distress. Althea saw the look on his face, “What’s the matter?”

“Harry says his scar hurt and woke him up.”

“His scar?” At Sirius’s nod, “Has it ever hurt before?”

“Only when Voldemort has been around.”

Althea turned pale. “Whaaat?” she asked slowly. “Is he back or was he never really gone?” she asked in a quieter tone.

“It appears he was never really gone.” Sirius rubbed his hands through his hair while he thought. Althea sank into a chair and rubbed her eyes and forehead, as if trying to massage away a headache.

“You want to go back, don’t you?” she finally asked very quietly.

“What? No, he has plenty of people to protect him,” said Sirius, but his forehead was furrowed as if his thoughts were troubling him.

“As much as I hate the thought of being separated from you – and I do – if Harry’s scar is hurting because Voldemort is coming back, you need to be near him.” Althea paused and steeled herself for the objections she knew she was about to get. “And I’m coming with you.”

“You’re not coming with me.”

“Why not?”

“Because Peter knows I’ve escaped from Azkaban.”

“So?”

“Althea, if you show up in England just a few months after I’ve escaped, someone is going to put the two facts together and come after you to get to me. You have to stay here for your own safety.”

“Do you think I can’t take care of myself?” Althea was starting to get huffy. She really didn’t want to be separated from Sirius and she was going to argue with him about it before she let him head into danger alone.

“You’re one of the most capable people I know, but when I go back, I’ll probably have to spend all my time in hiding or disguised as a dog. That’s no way for you to live. As soon as things calm down, I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come.”

“Sirius -” she started.

“Althea,” he interrupted her as he walked across the kitchen and took her firmly by the arms, “Promise me you'll wait until I tell you it's safe to come.”

Althea's face almost broke and it was a hard fight, but she managed to hold back her tears long enough to say, “Okay.”

Sirius looked down at her, with his head tilted to the right, and looked her in the face, “Promise?”

“But -”

“Althea, I want you with me,” he said with a quiet passion. “I don't want to leave you here, but for everybody's safety, you have to stay. For now.” He wrapped her tightly in his arms as she tried to hold back her tears, but couldn't any longer. “I love you,” he said in her hair. 

“Will you be careful?” she asked quietly.

“As careful as I can.”

“Promise?”

“Yes,” he said as he held her even tighter.

“All right,” she finally conceded. “I won't come till you tell me it's safe.” She felt him relax over winning this little battle. “But don't leave tonight,” she said as she tilted her head back to look at him. “Wait till tomorrow morning.”

He leaned his face toward hers and kissed her long and deep in answer.

 

Sirius went back to England, back to the environs of Hogwarts, the place where he’d been the happiest until the last weeks with Althea, and was on hand to help Harry through the trials of competing in the Triwizard tournament. He kept Althea informed by owl post and also by the magic mirrors he and James had used. Talking to each other kept them going until Harry made it through the Triwizard tournament. 

“I got another letter from Harry today,” Sirius said through the mirror one night in September.

“Oh?” said Althea. “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah. He's decided that his scar hurting was just a dream and I don't need to come back on his account.”

Althea chuckled with Sirius. “Sweet of him,” she said.

“Sweet?!”

“Honey, he's trying to protect you. So what did you write back to him?”

“Nice try, Harry.” 

Althea laughed again and felt her estimation of Harry rise higher than the level it was at simply because he was James and Lily's son. Harry had to have something to him that would make him want to keep Sirius out of danger. She'd kill to be able to go to England and meet him, spend time with him. How wonderful it would be if she and Sirius could be a married couple and be involved in Harry's life. As it was, she was just going to have to enjoy knowing Harry through Sirius. For now.

November 1, 1994

“Did you hear about the Triwizard Tournament?” Sirius asked her through the magic mirror.

“I heard they were going to have it this year, yes.”

“Harry's a second Hogwarts champion.” Sirius said, sounding very concerned for Harry.

“What?!” Althea jumped all over this news. “How? I thought the kids had to be of age to enter!”

“They do,” Sirius said, darkly. “Dumbledore's worried sick. Harry says he didn't put his name in, so someone else must have.”

“Yeah. Someone who'd like to see Harry die.” Althea saw Sirius nod in agreement with her. “Can Dumbledore withdraw him from the tournament?”

“No,” Sirius said, even more darkly. “It's a binding magical contract. He has to at least appear and try to compete.”

“And being James and Lily's son, he'll actually try to win the damn thing.”

Sirius was a little surprised at Althea's language. She usually didn't curse, but under the circumstances, strong language was definitely appropriate. “That's what I'm afraid of,” he said. 

“Oh, dear,” Althea said, as she rubbed her hands over her face and through her hair. “Any way for you to help him?” 

“I don't know,” Sirius answered, sounding frustrated that he couldn't do anything. 

His frustration was nothing compared to Althea's. At least he was there, close at hand if Harry needed him. Althea felt her eyes start to prickle over the idea that she was stuck in America, across an ocean from Sirius, unable to help Harry in any way, because she'd promised Sirius that she'd stay put until it was safe. This latest development made her believe that it might never be safe.

 

November 23, 1994

“I talked to Harry last night,” Sirius said through the magic mirror.

“How?”

“I broke into a wizards' house and used their fireplace.”

Althea drew a deep breath and choked down everything she could have said. “Are you being careful?” is what she settled on.

“Yes!” he answered.

“Oh, yeah? Breaking into a wizards' house to use the fireplace sounds like you're being really careful to me!”

“Thea,” he said, making her almost break down, “Harry's got a lot on his mind. Mostly, I just listened to him – he needed it.” 

Althea took another deep breath and asked, “He made it through the first task okay?”

“Yes, he's fine,” Sirius answered.

There were tears standing in her eyes when she said, “How many more tasks are there?”

“Just two.” 

“Sirius, how the hell did his name get in that goblet? He's under age! I thought Dumbledore fixed it so underage students couldn't enter!” 

“He says he didn't put his name in that goblet.”

“So somebody else had to have. . . Why?”

“Maybe they're hoping to for Harry to die. It wouldn't be the first time someone died in a Triwizard Tournament.” 

A shudder ran through Althea at the thought. “How is he going to get through this?” she asked Sirius. 

“That's why I'm here, love, to try to keep him alive.”

“I'll be glad when this is over.” Althea tried to keep her voice from breaking. “I'm worried sick about both of you.”

“Don't worry about me, love; I'm fine and I'll be fine.”

“Being away from you is driving me crazy,” she said through gritted teeth. “What if I apparate there for a few hours and then come back?”

“Oh, that sounds like a great idea. . .” Sirius said, “But, no, honey. I'm going up to Hogsmeade to be closer to Harry.”

Althea bit her tongue to keep from asking Sirius if he was out of his ever lovin' mind. She finally asked, “Keep sending Harry's letters on to me?” 

“I will,” he answered. “I want you to have them, just in case. . .”

“Sirius!” she said in a concerned and shocked voice, “Are you trying to make me cry?”

“No, just facing reality.” He paused and said, “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Stay safe for me, Sirius.”

 

When Althea heard the whole story of what had happened to Harry during that awful competition – especially with Cedric Diggory dying - she almost broke her promise to Sirius and headed to Britain to be with Sirius and Harry. She could tell that Sirius was distraught over the effects that all this had had on Harry. 

“Hasn’t the boy been through enough?” he fumed to her through the mirrors.

“Yes, he has honey. Yes, he has,” Althea said slowly. She could tell that the last months had really taken a toll on Sirius. He couldn’t have been much more upset if Harry had been his own son and not just his godson. 

“Now that Harry is safe, I’m going back to Grimmauld Place.”

“Why? You hate that house!” Althea was really surprised that Sirius would want to return to his parents’ house.

“I know, but Dumbledore is starting up the Order of the Phoenix again and it will make a good headquarters. And you can visit.” Sirius said the last in a tone of voice that only a man separated from his wife for too long can use.

“Let me know when you’re there and I’ll be on my way as soon as I can.” Althea really didn’t like the idea of Sirius living in his parents’ house, but there didn’t seem to be any help for it. He needed a place to lay low until the British ministry of magic caught on that they had a big problem – and it wasn’t Sirius – and that disgusting old house was available and already protected in plenty of magical ways. 

“I'm going to Remus's first; come when I'm there.”

“Sirius, does Remus know about us?”

“No, but don't you think it's time we told him?”

“Yes,” said Althea, wondering again why she'd let him go to Britain without her last August.

 

“Althea! This is a pleasant surprise!” Remus Lupin looked truly glad to see Althea. That her visit was a surprise meant to her that Sirius had chickened out on her and hadn't told Remus that they were married – or that she was coming.

“Remus,” said Althea as he hugged her, “It's so good to see you again.”

“What brings you back to England?” asked Remus as he invited her in. The look on his face told Althea that he had a really good clue, but he asked out of politeness.

“Guess,” she said as she walked in the door.

“Sirius?”

“Yep.” Althea half smiled at Remus and asked, “Is he here?”

“Not at the moment, but he should be back any minute.”

“Okay,” answered Althea.

The two of them sat down in the drawing room of Remus's small house and tried to scrape up a conversation. 

“What have you been doing?” asked Remus.

“Teaching, experimenting with herbs and potions, reading a lot. . .” Althea's voice trailed off.

A look of realization went across Remus's face suddenly. “Sirius went to you last summer, didn't he?”

“Yes,” said Althea with a nod of her head.

“How long was he there?” Remus asked as he started to put together a tea tray.

“Over two months. . . until Harry wrote and said his scar hurt,” she responded as she took her tea cup from Remus. 

“I wanted to come back with him,” she continued, “But Sirius didn't think it would be safe.”

“Sirius was quite right,” said Remus. “It's getting more and more dangerous all the time.”

Althea took a sip of tea as she considered this and said, “Remus, I shouldn't have let him come back without me last year.”

“Why did you, then?” Remus asked, curiously. He could tell that something had changed around Althea, but he wasn't sure what it was. She seemed more sure of herself, somehow.

“He managed to out-stubborn me,” Althea admitted in a grim tone.

Remus chuckled, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Yes, I can see how that happened.”

Althea shrugged and said, “Well, it looks like he was maybe right. Much as it pains me to admit.”

“Don't tell him that or it will go to his head,” Remus said, causing Althea to laugh.

“What's he off doing, anyway?” asked Althea.

“Something about his parents' house. He wanted to check the charms on it, I think,” said Remus.

“Convenient that he's not here when I told him specifically what time I should be,” said Althea in an annoyed tone.

“And you were early,” said Sirius as he walked in the door.

Remus caught the smile that lit Althea's face, saw it reflected in Sirius's and said, “Oh, like that, is it?” in a tone of sudden understanding.

“Like what?” asked Althea and Sirius together, both turning to look at Remus.

“You two. . . uh. . .” began Remus.

“Got married last July 1, Remus,” said Sirius in a firm tone, and crossed the room to kiss his wife's upturned face and gather her in his arms.

Remus just blinked.

“I missed you,” Sirius said in Althea's ear fervently.

“Me, too,” she answered, “Dreadfully.” She felt herself finally relax a little after being on edge for almost a year. She felt Sirius relax in her arms, too, and she could tell from his face that the past months had been much harder on him than they had on her. “I've been worried to death about you every day,” she said.

“It's okay now,” he answered. 

She nodded and said, “You're safe.” 

Remus cleared his throat. Loudly. 

Sirius spun around and instinctively shoved Althea behind him. “Oh, sorry, Remus.” 

“Er,” asked Remus cautiously, “Why didn't you tell anyone you were married?” 

Althea just looked at Sirius and let him flounder for an explanation. 

“Well, Remus, man,” Sirius started, “I was in hiding. . . and a marriage announcement in The Daily Prophet would have been a map straight back to Azkaban – possibly for Althea, too.”

“I'm sorry, Remus,” said Althea. “Sirius decided it was best, then, for both of our protections. And yours, too. You can't reveal what you don't know.” 

“You have a point,” Remus conceded.

“But you're still unhappy that you didn't know earlier,” said Althea.

“Yes,” said Remus, in a shorter tone than Althea usually heard from him.

“Remus, my friend,” said Sirius, “I would have loved to have had you there; there just wasn't time.” 

“We were engaged a whole three days,” Althea said apologetically.

Remus looked a little shocked at this; Sirius looked abashed. “Well, Remus, man, I didn't want to waste any more time.” 

Remus just nodded his head, still looking from one to the other in shock. “Does anyone else know?” he asked.

“My family in America,” Althea said slowly, looking at Sirius. “Did you tell anyone here, yet?” she asked Sirius.

Sirius shook his head, “Remus is the first.”

“Well, who's next on the list?” Remus asked.

Sirius and Althea looked at each other, smiled, and said, “Dumbledore,” in stereo. 

The door flew open and Dumbledore, himself, appeared. “Did I hear my name?” he asked.

Althea grinned, “Speak of the devil. . .”

Dumbledore only looked a little shocked to see Althea sitting in Remus's lounge. “Althea Willow!” he said, obviously pleased to see her again. “Have you finally decided to come teach for me?”

Althea and Sirius exchanged grins. “No, Dumbledore, I came to see what I can do for the Order in America,” she said.

“And because she lost her head and married me,” said Sirius, causing Althea to giggle. 

It took Remus a moment to join in the laugh, but the look on Dumbledore's face finally sent him over the edge into laughter with Sirius and Althea. “That's almost the same look I had,” he said, as their old Headmaster gathered himself together and crossed the room to hug Althea.

“When did this descent into lunacy occur?” he asked, as he held Althea's shoulders, with a look that might have worried Althea that he was unhappy, if it hadn't been for the twinkle in his eye.

“Last July, after you sent him back to me,” she said, in just as serious a tone. 

“Good!” he cried, as he hugged Althea again.

Althea felt like she'd just stepped into warm sunshine after walking through a dark cool forest for hours. But Albus Dumbledore had a way of making everyone feel that way. She felt tears prickle behind her eyes suddenly. She felt like she'd just come home. 

By the end of the evening, everyone in the Order, except Severus Snape, somehow, knew that Sirius and Althea were married. They all agreed that mentioning this would make life more dangerous for Althea than it already was. 

“Althea,” said Minerva that evening, “Are you sure you should have come?”

“Minerva, I don't want to go home,” Althea answered as she looked at Minerva in all seriousness. “I want to be here, with Sirius, helping the Order defeat Voldemort.” Minerva shuddered at the name. “Minerva, honestly, half Voldemort's power is that people are afraid to say his name. Well, I refuse to give him that power. I refuse to be afraid of a name,” she said firmly.

They were joined by Dumbledore. “Professor,” said Althea, looking at Dumbledore. “I'm worried about Sirius. Don't let him take any crazy chances or do anything reckless.”

Minerva snorted and Dumbledore said, “My dear, if I think I can, I'll do all in my power to keep him safe for you.”

Althea smiled as she hugged him and said, “Thank you, Dumbledore. I got him back. I don't want to lose him again.”

Before the evening was over, Sirius walked across Remus's lounge, pulled Althea by the hand where she was sitting between Nymphadora Tonks and Dumbledore and said, “Come on.”

“Not yet. I'm catching up!” she answered him.

Sirius gave her a dirty look full of fierce passion.

“Don't look at me in that tone of voice,” Althea said, making Tonks and Dumbledore chuckle. “I haven't seen anyone who's here in years. I want to catch up with everyone.”

Sirius glared at her, but didn't press the subject of leaving for a few minutes more.

When Dumbledore got up from the sofa to get a drink, Sirius grabbed his chance. He took Dumbledore's recently-vacated seat, wrapped his arms around Althea's waist and whispered, “My house. Now,” in her ear.

Althea decided to torture him a little longer. She shot a grin at Tonks, who was grinning widely herself, turned to Sirius and asked, “What about your house?”

“Althea, don't make me drag you out of here.”

“Oh, like you could,” she shot back in a disparaging tone.

Sirius glared at her. 

Althea batted her eyelashes and gave him the most innocent look she could conjure.

“Come on,” he whispered in her ear, starting to sound desperate.

“Why?”

“Because. I haven't seen you in way too many months.”

“Did ya miss me?”

“You have no idea.” He leaned closer to her and kissed her neck, making her giggle. 

“We have to say our good nights,” Althea pointed out to him.

“Good night,” he said very quietly to her.

“Smart aleck.” She stood up and walked away from him long enough to say good night to those assembled, with reassurances that they'd meet again soon, probably at 12 Grimmauld Place.

Sirius and Althea walked out of Remus's door hand-in-hand and apparated to Grimmauld Place.

Althea looked around in surprise. “Where did it go??” She'd been able to see the house before, but it was missing now.

“Oh, yeah,” Sirius said. He pulled a note out of his pocket. “Read this.”

Althea looked down at the parchment and saw Dumbledore's writing.

“The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix are located at 12 Grimmauld Place, London.”

“What the heck?” she said.

“Dumbledore's the Secret-Keeper for the Order.” 

“Ah,” Althea answered. She read the note again and looked up between houses 11 and 13. Suddenly, 12 Grimmauld Place squeezed itself between the adjoining houses. She got it. Sirius's house was hidden from all and sundry who weren't told directly by Dumbledore where it was. “Good idea,” she said. “Even your cousins can't find it now.”

“It has other charms on it too,” Sirius said.

“What kind?” 

“A muffling charm, for one. Stops odd noises from leaking out of the house.”

“Odd noises, huh?” Althea asked in apparent innocence. “You think there might be odd noises coming from your house?”

“I'm more hopeful for odd noises from my bedroom,” Sirius said as he swooped her up in his arms, checked that he wouldn't bash her head, and carried her in the house.

October, 1995

“Althea!” came a voice from Althea's table.

“Sirius?” Althea snatched up the mirror and saw Sirius's face looking at her. “What's the matter?” she asked, as she took in the near-pout on his face.

“Nothing,” he answered in a surly tone.

“You look like you're pouting about something – is Snape being snide again?”

“Snape's always snide,” he said, in a tone that made it plain the problem wasn't Severus Snape.

“So what's wrong?”

“Harry . . .”

“What's wrong with Harry,” Althea asked quickly in a concerned tone.

“Nothing. He and Hermione are starting to sound like Molly.”

Realization flashed across Althea's mind. “Ya mean they're showing good sense?”

Sirius looked even surlier, if that was possible. “They said I was recognized when I went with them as Padfoot to the train station.”

“Oh,” said Althea, as realization crossed her brain again. “So that's where that story in the Daily Prophet came from.” She paused before saying, “Well, I understand why you went, honey, but that was reckless.” She ignored the pouting look on Sirius's face. “Dear, you have to stay alive and free for Harry's and my sake. I know it's frustrating, but at least you can talk to us.” Althea paused and considered. “Wait. When did you talk to Harry?” she asked in suspicion.

“The other night,” replied Sirius, starting to sound guilty.

“How?”

“Floo network,” he replied quietly.

“Dammit, Sirius,” she almost shouted. “Are you tryin' to get caught?” Her language shocked Sirius a bit, but didn't change the surly look on his face. 

“Well. . .” he started.

“Ah! No! Stop! You said, 'well,' you're busted and you know it!”

“Yes, but Harry did need to talk to me about things going on – his scar hurt again.”

“That's not unusual anymore, is it?”

“No, but I had to find some way to talk to him and tell him it's probably all right.”

Althea sighed a huffy sigh. “Well, don't do it again. The stakes are too high now, honey. You can't take risks just for the fun of it any more – you have to stay out of Azkaban for Harry's sake and mine.”

Sirius was still pouting, but said, “Coming soon?” Althea had been visiting as often as possible, in the hopes of keeping Sirius from getting too depressed and lonely. 

She took a deep breath and choked down the recriminations she could still use and said, “Yes.” 

“I'm alone now. . .” he said, with a hopeful tone.

“I'm on my way,” she answered to a pleased grin on his face.

 

Althea knocked cautiously on the door of 12 Grimmauld Place and thought that “grim old place” was the perfect name for it. She hated this house almost as much as Sirius did, but it was a place to be and the price was right: free.

Sirius opened the door and wrapped Althea in his arms tightly, “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” said Althea from the depths of Sirius’s arms.

“How did you come this time?” Sirius asked as he leaned back to look at Althea's face.

“I apparated.”

“From North Carolina to London?” asked Sirius in a shocked tone.

“Not all in one fell swoop, no. I “bounced” up the coast of America to Canada, to Iceland and then to here.”

“Creative.” He sounded impressed.

Althea smiled at him, “I think pretty creatively when it will get me to you.” She looked around at noises downstairs, “Are we alone?”

“Yes, except for Kreacher.” Kreacher the house elf was ancient. No one knew why he was still living, except possibly to torture Sirius. Althea understood that Kreacher represented all the things that Sirius had hated in his parents – especially in his mother. 

“Well, never mind him. Come here and kiss me, love of my life.” Sirius complied with a smile on his face. 

Althea really wanted to chew on him some more for taking risks like accompanying Harry to the train as a dog and using the Floo network to talk to Harry, but she refrained. It was hard, but she thought that it wouldn't do any good to try to make him more cautious – and might actually make him more reckless. 

“I'm tired of being stuck in this house,” he moaned as he led her down to the kitchen.

“I know, honey. But consider the alternatives: Azkaban or death.” She looked him straight in the eye, as he'd stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and she was standing two steps up, or just high enough to look him in the eye easily, and said, “I don't want either of those to happen to you.” 

“Yeah, well. . .” he started in a dejected tone.

“Oh, no, you don't.”

“What?”

“Death or Azkaban is not better than staying in this house and you know it.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Well, at least you have me and Harry,” she answered in her practical tone.

Sirius nodded begrudgingly.

It was getting late, London time, but Sirius hadn't eaten anything yet. Althea's stomach was telling her it was dinner time by her clock, so she whipped something up for the two of them, and they enjoyed a bit of companionable silence while they ate. Althea decided that part of Sirius's problem was that this house was a depressing mess. Kreacher hadn't done anything to clean it in ten years, at least, and it had the dejected look of a house no one lives in. After they ate, she cleaned up the kitchen, in a small attempt to give Sirius a more cheerful place to live. Kreacher walked in and out, croaking about the way Althea cleaned and where she put things, but they ignored him and he wandered out again.

“Come here,” Sirius said as Althea finished the dishes.

“Why?” she asked in a teasing tone – hoping to get him out of his funk.

“Because I love you,” he answered seriously. 

She regarded him with an impish look and said, “Okay,” as she walked across the kitchen to where he was standing.

He grabbed her by the arms roughly and kissed her demandingly. She knew he was taking his frustration and depression out on her, but she didn't care. In fact, she liked it when his hands slid firmly and possessively down her back and up under her blouse. She liked it even more when he knelt in front of her and pulled her down with him on the hearthrug, which he transfigured into a very comfortable mattress and blankets. 

About an hour later, Sirius lifted his head from where it lay on her breast and said, “I'm sorry.” 

“For what?” she asked, sleepily.

“Using you like that,” he said, surprised that she wasn't upset with him.

“Um, hon, I don't know if you noticed, but I liked it,” she said, laughing at him.

“Oh?” he asked, in a surprised tone.

“You can use me like that any time,” she said as she stretched languorously, causing Sirius to laugh. Kreacher walked in, muttering about the shame Sirius brought on the house, among other things. “Sirius, what about him?”

“Oh, yeah. Kreacher,” said Sirius, causing Kreacher to stop as if he'd been completely surprised to find them there, “I forbid you to tell anyone that Althea visits here until I give you leave.”

Kreacher muttered, “Kreacher must do as Master says. Kreacher must ignore the noises the half-blood makes with Master, blood traitor that he is.”

Althea looked at Sirius and shrugged, “Told ya I enjoyed it.” Sirius laughed out loud and looked more like the man Althea had fallen in love with twenty years ago than he had in a long time. 

She pulled his head down by hers and hugged him tightly, suddenly misty-eyed. Was there anything she wouldn't give to have the last fourteen years back? She let the idea of a Time Turner float through her brain. . . but that was a lot of time to turn back. . . But, no. It's better not to mess with time. The idea of going back in time to try to save James and Lily and Sirius had a lot of appeal, but, no. As much as she desperately missed them, as much as she'd love to have the last fourteen years back, it really wasn't feasible. Messing with time in that way could have even greater consequences than events as they'd happened had. Althea still sighed deeply at the thought of changing the past.

Althea lay in Sirius's arms for a bit longer, but finally had to say, “I need to get back.”

“Stay with me,” Sirius answered.

“Come with me,” Althea countered.

“Althea...” he started.

“Sirius...” she answered, knowing exactly what he was going to say. “I have to teach. You have to stay here for Harry and the Order. We'll survive till the school year is over and then we'll make decisions about who's moving.”

“I'm happier when you're here.”

“So am I.”

“I need to be here for Harry.”

“I know.” Althea paused and then said, “I want to be where you are. After school's over, I'll come here. I'll bring the dogs and sell the house and I'll be here with you.”

“It won't be safe.”

“I don't care,” Althea answered, starting to get up. “I shouldn't have let you come back without me last year.” She was starting to get misty-eyed and hoped that she wasn't about to break down completely. “I think we can survive this till school's over, but after that, I'm coming. I'm going to be here with you.”

Althea was sure that Sirius was just too depressed to argue with her when he answered, “Okay.”

 

early January, 1996

 

“Sirius!” Althea called into the mirror for the third time. She sighed deeply. It wasn't unusual for him to be slow to answer sometimes, but it always worried her when he was.

“What?” was his surly answer – finally.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“I'm fine,” he said, in a tone that made her think that he was really less-than-fine.

“What have you been doing?” she asked. She knew the answers; she was just hoping to rouse him, to stir him with conversation.

“Sitting in the kitchen, trying to ignore Kreacher, hiding, same thing I do every day.” 

The petulant tone in his voice produced a mixed reaction from Althea. Part of her wanted to drop everything and run to London, try to shake him out of his funk; the other part wanted to smack him. “You've seen Snape lately,” she stated.

“How do you know that?”

“Am I wrong?”

“No; he was just here yesterday.”

“I could tell. You're more dissatisfied with life when you've been around him.”

“Oh.” 

Althea had the desire to smack him again. She really wanted to fuss at him; to tell him to think outside himself for a change. Did he think this wasn't hard on her, too? Could he quit pouting for five minutes and think what his mood did to hers? She didn't say anything; she knew it wouldn't do any good and would just make him even more petulant and pouting.

Althea, more than possibly anyone else Sirius knew, could see the damage twelve years in Azkaban had left. After twelve years cooped in a cell, he found himself cooped in a larger cell after just two years of freedom. Althea knew that Kreacher, in his way, was as bad as any dementor for Sirius's well-being. She knew that the 12 years he'd spent in Azkaban had left him sort of in suspended animation; he hadn't had any life experience to make him any older than the 22 he'd been when he'd been thrown in that hell hole. 

Althea had changed in the years they'd been apart; Sirius hadn't had the chance. There were times – and this was one of them – that she wondered if they could overcome the difference in their maturity levels and get to the same level again. Don't get her wrong: she loved him with her whole heart and when she'd said, “I do,” she'd meant it. But sometimes he was selfish in his depression and it made it really hard to love him.

After a few more minutes of non-conversation, Althea said, “I love you.”

“I know you do,” he answered. “God knows why, but I'm glad you do.”

Althea waited. “I love you, Althea,” he finally said.

“Get some sleep, Sirius, you'll feel better for it.”

She put the mirror down, sat down at her kitchen table and let herself be teary-eyed for a few minutes. She sat with her face in her hands, trying not to let loose and cry her heart out. She hated being separated from him; she hated seeing him depressed; she hated feeling useless to help him out of his depression. 

“How long can we survive this?” she asked the dogs.


	5. Alone Again. . . and Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This lines up with Order of the Phoenix.

late May, 1996

"Sirius, whatever," Althea said. They'd been having a somewhat heated discussion about Sirius leaving 12 Grimmauld Place. Again.

"But I need to get out of this house," Sirius said, again.

"Well, go, then," Althea finally said out of sheer annoyance. "Go ahead. Get caught by the Aurors or Death Eaters." She was standing by the hearth in the kitchen, arms crossed and left eyebrow raised, trying to look as if she didn't care if he got caught. "Go ahead. See if I care."

Sirius tried to match the careless look on her face, but couldn't do it. His face showed more annoyance with the whole situation. "You do care. That's why you're arguing with me about it."

Althea rolled her eyes. "Of course I care, idiot. I'm your wife. I'm supposed to try to keep you out of prison and alive. But damned if you're making it easy."

"Don't call me an idiot," Sirius looked like he was really getting angry with her.

"Will when you're acting like one," she retorted. 

Sirius started to leave the kitchen, a look of pure fury on his face.

"Oh, no, you don't, Sirius Black! You come back here and finish this," Althea called after him.

"Why should I? So you can call me names again?"

"Why are you fussin'? 'Cause I called you an idiot?" She sounded just like her Southern mother, and hated it, but couldn't seem to stop herself.

"My mother said that to me one too many times," Sirius said in a very dark tone.

"Oh," Althea said in a small voice. "I didn't know that. I'm sorry." The look of thunder fell off Sirius's face at her apology. Then she had to go and ruin it: "But you are acting like a spoiled brat."

Sirius started toward the stairs again. 

"Dammit, Sirius, come back here!"

Sirius started up the stairs. 

"Where are you going?" Althea called after him. Part of her wanted to just leave; make him wonder where she'd gone; make him worry a little. Another part of her wanted to follow him and back him into a corner so he had to argue back with her. Another part wanted to stay right where she was and wait for him to calm down and come back. 

The only thing she knew was that she couldn't leave until they'd settled this. What if something happened and the last words they said to each other were acrid? Damned if she could let that happen.

She waited a few minutes and then slowly climbed the stairs in search of him.

Althea found Sirius in his mother's room. When she opened the door, Buckbeak tried to lunge at her. As she backed out of his reach, she saw a bandage on his left leg. "What the hell happened to him?" she asked in shock.

"Kreacher," was all Sirius replied.

"Wanna kill him?" Althea asked.

"Don't tempt me."

Althea just stood and watched Sirius trying to take care of Buckbeak's injury. She thought about offering to take over, but Buckbeak seemed to have developed a dislike for her, and she couldn't think of anything more to do for him than what Sirius was already doing.

"Did I do all right?" Sirius asked, as he stood up. He'd been kneeling on the floor to check Buckbeak's bandages.

"Yeah, you did fine," was her answer. She thought about being the one to cave in and apologize for their argument, but she was so tired of always being the one who caved in first. Couldn't he humble himself first for the once?

"I'm sorry," she heard him say.

"What?" she asked out of pure shock.

“I'm sorry," he said again as he walked toward her. "I was being stupid."

"Nice of you to admit it," she said. 

She turned her face up to his, expecting to be kissed. Instead, he grabbed her chin in his hand and forced her head back even further. This was a little unsettling. He didn't normally act like he was trying to scare her.

"Don't call me an idiot again, okay?"

Althea nodded as well as she could under the circumstances. 

"I can't stay in this house much longer," he said as he let her go.

"Yes, you can," she said. He glared at her. "Honey, you've been here for almost a year; you've made it this long, you can stay here for as long as necessary. You may drive us both over the edge complaining about it, but you can do it."

"What if I don't wanna?" he asked, sounding petulant again, as he petted Buckbeak's head. Althea was a little surprised: her Southernness was starting to rub off on him.

"I don't care if you don't wanna; you're gonna." There she went: sounding just like her mother again. Althea stopped for a moment and then said, "There is an option.” He looked at her out of the corners of his eyes. “You could come back to America with me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Harry."

Althea rolled her eyes. Thankfully Sirius wasn't looking her direction right then. "Do you think you're the only person who can protect Harry?"

"Althea, he's in danger. Voldemort is planting dreams in his head, trying to get him to do something. I'm not leaving until he's safe."

"Well, when he's out of school, we'll take him to America with us."

"Dumbledore might not allow that."

"We can ask."

Sirius gave a non-committal shrug and nod. Althea tried very hard not to sigh from exasperation too loudly.

Sirius looked at the clock. "Dinner?" he asked her. 

"What do you want?"

"What's in the house to cook?"

Althea blinked slowly. "Which one of us is in the house all the time and would know?"

"Althea, haven't you figured out that I don't really care what I eat if you're not here?"

"Yeah," she said in irritation, "I think you drink your dinner more often than not - I've found enough empty firewhisky bottles." 

She could tell from the glare she received in answer that she was getting close to dangerous territory. She was getting close to not caring. The number of empty liquor bottles she found when she visited was reaching an alarming high. At least she hadn't found evidence that he was hiding them. Yet. 

Sirius walked out of his mother's bedroom, followed closely by Althea. Buckbeak let out a squawk of irritation and pain at their departure. Proud a hippogriff might be, but he still wanted some company. Althea was sure Buckbeak wanted out of the house at least as much as Sirius did. 

They walked down the stairs and Althea thought about knocking over the stupid troll leg umbrella stand, which would awaken the portrait of Sirius's mother, which would in turn stir Sirius into doing something. She really did think about it. But she decided she didn't want to listen to them scream at each other. 

What she really wanted to do was to reach into that awful portrait and throttle Walburga Black with her bare hands. A large part of the reason Sirius was so dissatisfied with being stuck in this house could be laid at her feet. With her pureblood mania, her arrogance, her disdain of anything that wasn't from pureblood wizards, she'd done nothing to help Sirius become anything other than what she'd been. Sirius wasn't built along her lines, though. He was kinder, had a more open mind, had been humbled a little by his life experiences. It takes a large amount of bravery to go against everything one's parents have taught one to be, and try to be something better; Sirius had that amount of bravery and more. 

In the end, Althea decided to not awaken the portrait of Mrs. Black because she'd suffered at Walburga Black's tongue before and she wasn't anxious to repeat the experience. Tell herself as she would that it was just a portrait, being called vile filth didn't do much to improve Althea's mental state, which was beginning to suffer from Sirius's depression at being stuck in this filthy dark dank old house with that portrait and a mad house elf. 

All in all, Sirius and Althea weren't shiny happy people when they arrived in the kitchen. Althea couldn't think of anything that might raise him from his black funk. 

Sirius pulled a bottle of firewhisky off the shelf. "Sirius, don't," she said, half pleading. 

He looked at her and poured himself a large tot. "Want some?" he asked. His tone sounded like a challenge.

"You know I can't drink that," she said. 

"Why not?" he asked, still in a challenging tone, as he crossed the kitchen toward the pantry, which she was hunting through. 

"Firewhisky does bad things to me.” Althea had experienced firewhisky once before, with Sirius, right after Hogwarts. It was not an experience she wanted to repeat, as she'd spent most of the next day with her head in the toilet and listening to Sirius laugh at her for being a lightweight.

"You're still a lightweight?" he asked, still sounding like he was trying to challenge her.

"I am when it comes to firewhisky."

"Nice to know there's something you're not perfect at."

Ouch. Althea felt herself get a little teary-eyed. "There are plenty of things I'm not perfect at, Sirius." She looked down at the floor so Sirius wouldn't see that he'd hurt her.

"Name one. Besides firewhisky."

"Well, I'm obviously not a perfect wife, or I'd know exactly what to say or do to get you out of the black funk you're in. It doesn't matter what I say, or how, you're depressed because you're in this house and there's nothing I can do about it. I came up with a suggestion to get you out of here, but you rejected it because of Harry -"

"Don't blame Harry," Sirius interrupted, sounding dangerous again.

"I'm not blaming Harry," Althea said quickly, looking up at Sirius. "None of this is his fault. It's not even your fault; it's just the way things are. I'm trying to be helpful; I'm trying to be supportive, but nothing I can say or do seems to help you." Her brow furrowed in upset that nothing she could do helped him. 

Sirius took a long swallow of the firewhisky in his glass. "You don't want any of this?" he asked.

"No." At her answer, he tossed the rest of it back like it was water. She quirked her mouth to the left and wondered how in the world they were going to get out of the quagmire of depression they had fallen in together.

She sighed deeply, but quietly, looked around the pantry, hunted through the ice box, and finally scrounged up something for them to eat.

"Thank you," he said as they sat down together to eat.

"You're welcome," she answered. Maybe food would be good for both of them and would change the mood. Something funny, she thought. Do I have any funny stories to tell him? Nothing occurred to her, though.

When they were done eating, which activity had relieved a little of the tension they were both feeling, Althea stood up to start dealing with the dishes. "Leave them, Thea," Sirius said.

"What?" Althea said. She was a little surprised to hear him call her 'Thea'; he rarely did lately.

"I said leave them. We'll deal with them later." Sirius stood up and took Althea's hand. "Come upstairs with me."

Althea's mouth quirked again. She had a feeling that the firewhisky he'd had with dinner was partly responsible for this show of amorous affection. "Okay," she said, deciding she didn't care. She waved her wand and stacked all the dishes in the sink before she let Sirius lead her upstairs.

 

Althea fainted. It was her first indication that there was something dreadfully wrong. "What time is it in London?" she thought to herself and looked at the clock to add the hours between here and there and realized that it was late at night in London. What was wrong in London? She'd managed to land in the chair basically upright before she lost consciousness, but the dogs were still deeply concerned - they were both whining and licking whatever part of her they could reach. "I'm okay, dogs. I'm all right," she was saying it to reassure herself, as much as the dogs. 

She listened with her heart and head and reached out with all her senses and then, she screamed, "SIRIUS!" He was dead. Gone. Out of her reach. She was certain of it. She knew by the sudden emptiness in her heart. 

She spent hours screaming, 'SIRIUS!' into the magic mirror, but there was no answer. There was no barking laugh, no gray eyes, no black hair, no smug smile to answer her more and more desperate cries for him to answer her. 

Althea knew he was gone, but the next morning, any small tinge of hope that was still in her heart was smashed when there was a knock on the door. She opened the door and he stepped inside. 

Remus Lupin was standing in her living room, ashen-faced and looking like he hadn't slept in days. “Althea,” was all he could say before his face broke.

Althea could only manage “No,” in a very small voice over and over as Remus said, “I'm sorry, Althea.”

“No,” she said.

“Althea, Sirius -”

“No.”

“Stop, Althea, please, let me just say it.” There were tears running down Remus's face. Althea's legs wouldn't hold her up any more and she sank to the hardwood floor. Remus sank down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. “Althea, he died protecting Harry.”

“No, Remus, he can't be gone.”

“Althea, I saw it happen.”

“No, Remus. I'm moving to London right after school's over. He can't be gone. I just saw him night before last.”

“Althea, I saw it happen.” Remus hugged Althea tighter as wild sobs escaped her. “He died protecting Harry, wand in hand, fighting to the bitter end. He fell through the veil, Althea.”

“What veil?” she managed to ask in a small voice.

“In the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry building.”

“How?”

“He got hit by a curse and it knocked him backward through the veil.” Althea just stared into space, not really noticing where she was, or who was speaking. “I had to grab Harry to stop him going after Sirius.”

“He saved Harry?”

“Yes.”

Althea nodded. “That's what he wanted to do.” She sat for a moment and then moaned with a broken heart, “Oh, Remus, what am I gonna do? I just got him back! I can't do it without him.”

Remus Lupin, good man that he was, sat on Althea's living room floor, leaning against her couch, with his arms wrapped around his best friend's wife, and cried with her. They cried because they loved Sirius, because it was so unfair that he was just beginning to get his life back and now it had been taken from him so cruelly. They cried because Harry had lost the person he was closest to in the world. 

Althea cried her heart out because she was so very alone. She'd known for almost thirteen years that he'd come back to her. Now he was permanently gone. She'd always been able to get through each day knowing that he was alive and he'd come back to her someday, somehow. Now, there didn't seem to be much left for her to live for. 

Reading in The Daily Prophet that all of wizarding Britain now knew that Voldemort was back and that Sirius was innocent was really no help to the constant ache in Althea's empty heart. What did it matter if the ministry knew Sirius was innocent, if he was gone? She'd spent almost fifteen years wanting them to admit that they'd been wrong. Now they had. But it really didn't matter any more. What good was it to clear the name of a dead man? 

Althea at first thought that it was just mourning and depression that was making her so exhausted and sick. When she realized that she'd missed her monthly about three weeks after Sirius died, though, she thought, “Oh, no way. The last time I saw Sirius. . . No way.” She finally began to believe that she really was pregnant when the third test read positive, too. When it finally sank into her head that she was pregnant with Sirius’s child, she burst into tears and sobbed for fifteen minutes. How was she going to do it? How was she going to parent a child – any child, let alone Sirius’s child – by herself? Heaven help her if it was a boy like him! Aw, heaven help her boy or girl! Should she tell Remus? He was Sirius’s last best friend; wouldn’t he want to know? Yes, but, wouldn’t it be dangerous for her and the child if anyone knew? 

Althea finally decided that she still had a good seven or eight months before the baby arrived and she could always tell Remus and anybody else later. Once they knew, they’d know; and it might not be safe for  
them to know. She had no idea why she thought that it might be best for no one to know that Sirius was going to be a father. Her instincts were telling her it would be safer for her to stay in America for now and to keep her news to her family here.

A week after Althea broke the news to her family that she was pregnant, Ya Ya managed to slip down the front steps of her house and broke her hip so completely that it looked like she'd have to be in an assisted living home for quite a while. This did nothing to help Althea at all. 

Granny had died just a week before James and Lily had been murdered; to have Ya Ya come close to death in surgery only about a month after Sirius died almost pushed Althea over the edge. She fought the Celtic tendency toward black depressions she'd inherited from her mom and Granny, but losing Sirius pushed her into a black pit of despair. Ya Ya had been her best comfort for the past month and Althea really wasn't sure if she could survive if she lost Ya Ya, too. 

Althea walked in the hospital room the day after Ya Ya's surgery. “Ya Ya, what are you doing?”

“I've been in this bed too long, Althea! I need to get up!”

“No, you don't, Ya Ya.” Althea crossed the room and put a hand on Ya Ya's shoulder, in an effort to keep her from moving.

“And why shouldn't I, Althea?” Ya Ya tried to shake Althea's hand off. 

“Because you broke your hip, Ya Ya! You had really major surgery just yesterday!” Althea felt so tired, so despondent, that it took all her energy just to try to argue with Ya Ya. Trying to keep her in bed was completely beyond Althea just then. 

Ya Ya still tried to get out of bed. “Ya Ya, please,” Althea said, sounding on the verge of tears.

Penelope Willow looked up at Althea, took in the look of exhausted hopelessness on the face above hers and said, “All right, for you, Althea, I'll stay put. For now.” Ya Ya sank back against the pillows and Althea finally sat down in the bedside chair. 

Althea could tell that just trying to get out of bed had taken all of Ya Ya's energy, so she let herself relax into the stunned silence she'd spent most of her time in for the past month. 

Penelope saw that Althea seemed to be barely hanging on. She reached out a hand and caressed Althea's cheek, meaning to reassure and comfort her. Althea burst into tears and pressed her cheek against her grandmother's hand.

“I can't do this, Ya Ya,” Althea said through her tears. “I just can't. It should get easier each day, shouldn't it?” She closed her eyes, shook her head and moaned, “It's not fair!” 

Ya Ya wiped the tears from Althea's face and said, “You have to, Althea, eh? It's not just you now. There's someone else for you to live for.”

Althea nodded and wiped her eyes on a tissue from the box by the bed. 

Ya Ya continued, “When your Opa, my George died, I went through days like you are now, eh? Wondering why I should keep going, wondering why I didn't just go ahead and join him.” She lifted Althea's chin and forced Althea's eyes to hers. “I kept going and I stayed, yes?” Althea nodded. “Yes. Because I had my boys, my Barnabas and Silas, and I had my grandchildren, and they needed me.”

“We still need you,” Althea said in a small voice. 

“Why do you think I'm still here?” Ya Ya asked. Althea smiled with her. 

Althea spent a lot of the summer with Ya Ya. Wherever Ya Ya was, Althea could be found; first in the hospital, then in the nursing home where Ya Ya was going to have to stay for at least a while. Dorcas Willow lost track of the number of times she walked in her mother-in-law's room and found her oldest daughter curled up beside Ya Ya, asleep, with the traces of tears on her cheeks. 

“Is she all right, Ya Ya?” Dorcas asked quietly one day in late August.

“No, but she will be,” Ya Ya answered as she stroked Althea's hair. 

 

Circe Willow stood up from the dinner table near Christmas, looked pointedly down her nose at her older sister and said, “I am never getting married. I hate men and I don’t want to have children,” and walked out of the dining room. The rest of the family looked a little thunderstruck and then looked at Althea.

“Oh, no.” said Althea. “It is not my fault that Circe doesn’t want to get married and have kids.” Althea rolled her eyes and shook her head. Frustration with the latest grand pronouncement from her younger sister was running rampant through her veins. Althea was certain it was that she was six months pregnant that had brought about this latest outburst. Ya Ya followed Circe out of the dining room, going at a slow hobble with the walker she had to use since she'd broken her hip.

Circe had always felt the need to compete with Althea, although their mother, Dorcas, had worked very hard to never compare the two. Circe had spent her whole life making certain that she did not do anything Althea did. Althea was sure that Circe would be a much happier person if she didn't spend her life trying not to be like her older sister. 

Circe flounced back in the dining room a few minutes later, sat down, and began eating her baklava as if she’d said nothing shocking and hadn’t stormed out of the dining room as if she was going to disown her whole family not ten minutes earlier. Althea opened her mouth to say something, but their grandmother, Penelope, caught her eye and shook her head, so Althea subsided. Something about the way Circe was carrying herself and the look on Ya Ya’s face said that Ya Ya had just given Circe a tongue lashing. No one in her right mind argued with Ya Ya. This was one of the few clues that Circe was really sane that Althea had ever seen.

Althea shook her head and rolled her eyes again. Circe huffed and sighed deeply and huffed and sighed again, and this, combined with being very uncomfortably and hormonally pregnant, finally sent Althea over the edge.

“Oh, stop it,”Althea snapped. “You're acting like the teenagers I teach every day.”

“You’re always the best; you and Mom are always talking about your stupid spells and potions -”

“Oh, whatever! Knock it off. I hear enough of that chip-on-your-shoulder attitude at school. If you don’t want to do something I’ve done, try not being widowed.” Althea left the room with tears in her eyes. She could hear Penelope and Dorcas chastising Circe as she walked through the kitchen and out the back door. 

Althea sat down at the picnic table on the back deck and tried to collect herself. She sat with her head buried in her hands for a few minutes and then felt a presence on either side of her. Thaddeus had sat down on one side of her, and his wife, Kathy, had taken the other side. T. R. leaned Althea's head onto his shoulder and said, “Don't pay any attention to her.”

Althea nodded, but didn't trust herself to say anything. This latest attack of Circe's had just taken all her self-control. 

Kathy hugged her from the other side and said, “I'm sorry, Ally.” 

“What did I ever do to her, T. R.?” Althea finally was able to ask.

“Nothing,” he answered. 

“I didn't treat her like she was less than me, did I? I didn't try to rub her nose in the fact that I was magical and she wasn't, did I?”

“No, Ally. You did the best you could with her.”

“Is this just some maniac flaw in her?”

“I think it must be, Ally,” said Kathy. “She was jealous of me and treated me like dirt right after we got married.” 

“Nice to know it's not just me,” Althea said, darkly.

She lifted her head and considered her brother, “How did you turn out so normal?”

“I take after Dad, remember?”

“Oh, yeah.”

They could hear voices rising and falling from the dining room. Mom and Ya Ya were hitting their stride now; Circe might emerge with something left of her rear end if she kept her head down and just agreed with them that she was being an immature selfish brat. Althea really didn’t see that happening. 

Circe still kept it up the rest of the afternoon. It wasn't enough that she'd been hateful to Sirius's face the last time she'd seen him, right after Sirius and Althea were married, now she was being hateful about him and he wasn't there to defend himself. On top of everything else she'd said that day, Althea had had enough. 

“Circe, please, shut the hell up. You keep going on and on about Sirius and he's been gone six months. Stop it.” Althea caught the shocked looks on the faces of her family, but she was past caring at this moment. “I don't know what the hell I ever did to you, but whatever it was, you need to get over it.” Circe had her typical 'nobody loves me' look on her face. “What has been your problem, anyway? Ever since I started at Hogwarts, you've been terrible to me. It is not my fault that I'm magical and you're not. I didn't ask to be magical – I didn't ask for you not to be.” The truth hurt Circe, Althea could tell from the look on her face. Maybe she'd actually listen now. “Circe, please, do me a favor: decide what it is that you want to do with your life without any regard for what I do with mine. I don't care if you're an herbalist or chemist or whatever you do. Do whatever makes you happy and quit worrying about whatever it is I do or don't do. You're crazy, Circe. You need mental help. You can't run your life by worrying about not doing things that I've done. How much have you cut yourself off from because I've done it? Circe, will ya quit worrying about ME and worry about YOU? Make you happy, please! 'Cause you're making the rest of us miserable.” With that, Althea Kathleen Willow Black stood up and went home. 

When she got home, she decided that she just couldn't stand the separation from anything related to Sirius any more and she sent letters flying off to Remus, Minerva McGonagall, and Albus Dumbledore. She wanted them, at least, to know that something of Sirius was surviving with her. Whether they told anyone else or not was up to them, she decided, but she wanted someone who'd been close to Sirius to know that something of him had survived and would arrive in about three months.

It wasn't long before she received heart-felt letters of congratulation and admonishment for not telling them sooner from the whole Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore seemed especially glad. 

Dumbledore also agreed that Althea had been right not to spread the news far and wide. Sirius's child could still be a target for Voldemort and his Death Eaters. He was certain that Bellatrix Lestrange would like nothing more than to wipe out the last vestige of Sirius from the earth. 

_Althea, what shall we do about 12 Grimmauld Place?_ Dumbledore wrote. _Sirius's will specifically left it to Harry, but obviously Sirius didn't know that he had a survivor besides yourself._

Althea's reply was easy: _Let Harry have the house. If Harry has it, no one will ever suspect that Sirius has a survivor (besides me). I have a feeling Harry will want a place to call his own soon enough – even a grim old place._

_My thoughts exactly, wrote Dumbledore. Kreacher acted as if Harry is the owner of the house, so obviously Sirius knew what he was doing. I suspect that you helped._

Althea could almost see the smile and twinkle in Dumbledore's eye at the last line. She had known that Sirius had written his will to leave Harry everything and she'd encouraged him to. In fact, she had helped him write it. She had photographs and memories of Sirius; she didn't need a house and an elf to remind her of him. 

 

Cassiopeia Lily Black was born at 5:47 a.m. on March 21, 1997, almost exactly nine months after her father died. Althea tried to be happy with Cassie; she tried to be glad she had the baby girl to remind her of Sirius, but, a really hard pregnancy, followed by a terrible labor and delivery, had really taken it out of her, and she wallowed in a large well of postpartum depression for a few weeks.

When Cassiopeia was three months old, near the end of June, Althea received news that saddened her even more, in the form of the Daily Prophet, announcing the death of Albus Dumbledore.  
Althea didn't think she could take much more news like this. 

Althea's family were really starting to worry about her when a letter arrived from Minerva McGonagall. Althea smiled when she saw an owl at her window. Althea and Minerva had been keeping up a correspondence since Althea had written to say she was pregnant. Althea was sure that part of the reason she'd done as well as she had over the past few months was reading letters from Professor McGonagall, whose formality had slipped a little as the number of letters increased. 

Althea didn't expect anything Minerva wrote.

 

_Dear Althea, read the letter,_

__

__

_Hogwarts is in trouble. Severus Snape has been named Headmaster and much of the staff has been replaced with Death Eaters who escaped from Azkaban. We need all the help we can find. We need you to make contact with the American Ministry of Magic – it's department, Minerva, Althea thought – and make sure You-Know-Who's influence hasn't spread over there._


	6. Marking Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter this time. The action will pick up in the next one.

Chapter Six

September, 1997

Althea responded to Minerva's letter by making a trip to the Department of Magic in Washington, DC. Going to the state of North Carolina's department helped, but not much. Nobody wanted to believe that Voldemort had returned – even a year after Britain had admitted it. 

“What do you think we should do, Dr. Black?” asked the Secretary of Magic, Winifred Platt. 

Althea sighed deeply. “For one thing, verify anything and everything you hear from Britain. Their Minister of Magic is doing his best, but Rufous Scrimgour may not be much against Voldemort and his death eaters.” 

Secretary Platt shuddered. “Death eaters. What a thing to call themselves.”

Althea nodded and said, “Voldemort wants to defeat death. From what I've heard, he made himself horcruxes – plural – to try to never die.”

The secretary shuddered again – in horror this time. “More than one horcrux?”

“Yeah,” Althea said. “He's just a little bit crazy.” 

Thankfully, Althea's warning was heeded, and after the Ministry was overrun with Death Eaters, America cut ties with them. As large as America is, with as many magical folk as it has – there's a school of magic in almost every state – America could stand on its own. 

The United States had faced its own rogue wizards. Althea was sure everyone in the country cringed when they heard about that one in Texas. It hadn't ended well for him. Texas has a magical version of the Texas Rangers, and it hadn't taken long to hunt him down. The duel had been ugly. When it was over, two Texas Rangers were dead, but so was the rogue wizard. 

Althea kept teaching in North Carolina, loved on Cassiopeia, tried to avoid Circe, and helped Ya Ya completely recover from her broken hip. Well, mostly. 

“Ya Ya, I understand, but your hip is too fragile for you to live alone now.” Althea was in yet another argument with Ya Ya about Ya Ya going home and living alone again. 

“Then you move in with me,” Ya Ya tried.

“Really?” Althea asked with a skeptical tone. “You really want me to bring Cass and two big dogs into your house?”

“Would you have to bring the dogs?” Ya Ya tried to bargain.

“Oh, yeah, Ya Ya. Those dogs are part of the package with me. They've kept me sane the last year and a half.”

Ya Ya thought of all the delicate antiques she had on display in her home, then thought of Althea's big dogs trying to manuever around them. Harold was not a graceful dog. For the sake of her china cabinet, maybe she ought to stay in the rehabilitation center a bit longer. 

Althea could see the wheels spinning in Ya Ya's mind, hoping for a way to get out of that rehabilitation place, and saw the thought of a baby, a Rottweiler, and a German Shepherd in her house full of fragile antiques. Ya Ya finally said, “Well, maybe this place isn't so bad.”

“I thought you'd see it that way.” Althea tried not to sound too smug. She was secretly relieved. She really didn't want to try to talk Ya Ya into staying put. And the idea of trying to move a baby and two big dogs into Ya Ya's house? No. Just no. Althea loved her grandmother, but There Are Limits, and asking Althea to move in with Ya Ya was at that limit. 

When she got home that day, there was a letter from Minerva. Althea was pretty sure she'd become Minerva's sounding board, considering everything that was going on in Britain. 

_Dear Althea,_

_We've heard nothing on Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I suppose no news is good news. The situation at Hogwarts continues to deteriorate. As much as Severus is supposed to be a member of the Order, I have a hard time believing he's on our sides. We're doing our best to shield the students from the death eaters pretending to be teachers, but it's getting harder._

_Neville has managed to make the Room of Requirement work to his advantage, and I think quite a few students are hiding there. I won't go looking, because if I don't know, I don't know and I can't reveal them._

_This has to end some way, Althea. I don't think many of us can take much more of this, but I can't take your suggestion to go to America. I can't abandon Hogwarts. I'd never be able to look Albus's portrait in the eye._

Althea looked up from the letter at Cassie, who was busy crawling around the living room, hunting for anything she shouldn't have. Thankfully, Althea kept the floor pretty clean (with the dogs helping to clean up any dropped food). She wondered how everyone else in the Order was faring – she hadn't heard anything from Molly in weeks. She imagined Molly was just a little frantic, worrying about Ron, Hermione, and Harry. And everybody else. She would be glad when this was over. It had to end eventually – Althea was of course terrified it would end when Harry was dead, but she had hope that it would end with Voldemort locked up or dead. One way or another, it had to end.


	7. Resurrection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Althea gets some surprise visitors. 
> 
> We're doing a big time jump here, because nothing happened in America until the Wizarding War was over in Britain.

Welcome to North Carolina

 

It was May, 1998. Voldemort was dead and gone; The Daily Prophet had announced it days ago. Althea looked around her living room, where Cassie had succeeded in scattering every toy she owned over the rug in five minutes flat. Cassie was fifteen months old now, but still, there wasn't a day that went by that Althea didn't miss Sirius, even after two years. She saw him every time she looked in Cassie's eyes. 

The latest special edition of The Daily Prophet laying on the table had a list of the dead and missing in it. Althea had known the names she was going to find there; Minerva had warned her, but she had still burst into tears and sobbed for ten minutes when she'd seen Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks Lupin listed as having died in the final battle. 

It wasn't fair. Remus was finally happy – both of them were. It wasn't fair that they'd been snuffed out just when their life together was starting. The thought of Cassie being orphaned the way Teddy Lupin had been wrung her out even more. At least Teddy still had his Granny Tonks. 

Althea had sent an owl off toward Andromeda Black Tonks the day before to express her sympathy and offer any help she might give. Knowing how the owl post was working lately, she didn't expect an answer back for quite a while. 

“Cassie, you're good at dumping toys, let's pick them up!” Althea said, trying to be cheerful for the baby's sake. Althea got down on the floor, picked up the nearest toy and put it in the toy box. Cassie copied her movements, which won her applause and cheers from her mother.

Althea's play-acting for Cassie was interrupted by a knock on the door. Both dogs went bounding at the door, Harold barking his loud deep warning in the Rottweiler way. Unexpected knocks at the door were always greeted with extreme suspicion by Harold. He trusted no one until they'd proven they meant no harm to Althea and Cassie – especially Cassie.

Althea heard footsteps back away from the door as Harold continued to bark threats at whomever was on the other side of it. “Harold, 'nuff. Sit. Down. Stay.” Althea said. She observed Harold for a moment and decided that he wasn't likely to rip anyone's throat out the moment she opened the door.

She opened the door and found Minerva McGonagall standing on her porch, surrounded by teenagers. “Minerva!” she said in delight. Then she looked at the teenagers and her eyes filled with tears as she realized that the one standing behind Minerva's left shoulder was Harry. “Harry!” she whispered. 

“Althea, I've brought these four with me to hear your story,” Minerva said with a significant tone. Her eyes met Althea's and a flash of understanding went between them. 

“Oh,” said Althea. Collecting herself a little, she said, “Come in and don't let the Rottweiler scare you. It's his job to be protective.” 

Althea walked in the door, saw Harold get up and start to prick his ears and think about baring his teeth and said, “No. Go.” She pointed at the kitchen door while holding the big dog's gaze. The dog gave her a look that clearly said, “But! They're strangers! But! I must protect you!” “Go,” Althea said again, pointing at the kitchen door. The dog reluctantly went. 

Gretl, on the other hand, was overjoyed to greet new people. Althea whirled around to see Gretl doing her best to lick Harry's face. “Don't pet her until she sits,” Althea said. “Gretl, sit,” she said. Gretl sat for about three shakes, then bounced from person to person, begging for attention again. “Gretl, go,” Althea said, again pointing at the kitchen door. “Now!” she added for emphasis. Gretl went, even more reluctantly than Harold had. “I'll let them back in the living room when they calm down,” she said. She turned her head, saw Gretl trying to sneak back in and said, “No. Stay.” Gretl stayed.

Althea took a deep breath, turned to look at everyone who had just come in her door – all of whom were taller than her – and said, “So, you're here to hear my story?”

Minerva opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Cassie. “Mama!” she said, as she toddled over to be picked up. 

Althea saw the look on Harry's face as he caught a good look at Cassie's eyes. She looked at Minerva, smiled slightly, and asked, “Is that why you're here, Minerva?” Minerva nodded. 

Althea looked at Harry and said, “She has her father's eyes.” Harry blanched, Hermione gasped, Ron and Ginny looked shocked.

“Ya mean. . .” started Ron.

“Sirius. . .” said Hermione, who was standing in front of Ron, with his hands on her shoulders.

“Wait,” said Harry. Ginny moved closer to him and put her hand in his.

Althea saw Harry wrap his mind around the idea that Cassie might be the daughter of Sirius Black. She stayed silent for a minute, as Harry looked from her to Cassie and back again. When she thought the idea might have sunk in, she said, “Her name is Cassiopeia Lily Black. Yes, Sirius was her father. And my husband.”

Minerva looked at Althea and caught her eye. Althea raised her eyebrows in a sort of, Is that what you wanted? way. Minerva nodded again.

“Yeah, we knew that,” said Harry.

It was Althea's turn to be shocked. “What?”

“Professor McGonagall told us,” Ginny said. 

Althea looked at Ginny and thought, _Boy does she look like Lily_ , to herself.

Althea looked from one to the other of the teenagers and Minerva. “So why are you here?”

“I thought it would be good for Harry to be out of Britain for a few days,” Minerva said. “He hasn't had a moment's peace since You-know-who went the way of the dodo.”

Althea snorted. “Well, that's one way to put it.” Althea smiled at Harry, then said to Minerva, “I think it might be safe to say his name now, Minerva. From what I've heard, there's no chance he can come back again.”

Minerva looked a little embarrassed with herself and shrugged as she said, “Old habits die hard.”

Althea used her teacher's eye and looked carefully at all four of the teenagers. Her gaze finally settled on Harry and she said in a searching way, “Are you all right?”

Harry seemed to know exactly what she meant and responded, “Yeah, sure, I'm okay.”

Althea lifted her eyebrows near her hairline and said, “Are you really?” She changed her tone to explain her concern: “Harry, something Minerva hasn't told you, because I'm not sure she even knew, is that I caught you when you were born.”

All of them looked very surprised, but Harry also looked thrilled to find another connection to his parents. “You did?” he asked in surprise.

Althea nodded, “I did. I was in training at St. Mungo's to be a midwife and healer and you decided to come in a hurry.” Althea smiled at the recollection. “Thank goodness I was there; otherwise, it would have been Sirius and James who had to help your mother.”

Harry smiled at the idea of Sirius being on the scene when he was born. “And how were my dad and Sirius. . .?”

“Useless,” Althea said to a wide grin from Harry. “Completely useless from your mother's first contraction till after you were born, unless I gave them direct orders.”

“So you and Sirius. . .?” asked Ginny.

“We started dating our seventh year – not long before your parents did, Harry. We were only talking about getting married when James and Lily did.” She sat down on the couch and invited everyone else to sit down, too, and summoned cold drinks from the kitchen with her wand for them all.

It wasn't long before the dogs were calm enough to meet the newcomers, and an even shorter time before Cassie had charmed them all with her ways. They spent quite a while in small talk over lunch and then every drifted off to explore the farm and relax. 

Althea found Harry sitting on the porch in the swing, just staring at the waves in the ocean. He appeared to be lost in thought, so Althea very gently asked, “What are you thinking, pal?” She'd discovered that her nickname for Harry was “pal” again. She'd called him “pal” almost immediately after she'd delivered him that hot July afternoon in 1980 and it still seemed to fit him. 

“Oh, I was just trying to wrap my mind around. . . everything,” he said. 

Althea settled on the swing without breaking its rhythm and asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Well, yeah – no - I wouldn't know where to start,” was Harry's incoherent answer that made perfect sense.

“Start with whatever's on your mind right now and see where you end up,” Althea answered.

Harry talked for a solid two hours. He talked about his confused feelings about Dumbledore; missing his parents; Sirius; Remus and Tonks; everyone who'd died because of him. Althea interrupted him there: “Harry, no one, no one, died because of you, pal. They died because Voldemort was a megalomaniac with attachment disorder who thought he could defeat death.” She paused to let this sink in for a moment. “Honey, it wasn't your fault.” He looked at her and she shook her head. She saw a guilty look on his face and thought that he was thinking of Sirius. 

“But if I hadn't thought that visions Voldemort planted in my head were real, Sirius would still be alive!”

“You don't know that, pal.” She shook her head again. “If it hadn't been Bellatrix then and there, it might have happened anyway, some other place, some other time.” She looked him in the eye and said, slowly and seriously, “Harry, I don't blame you. I've never blamed you. There's plenty of blame to go around for Sirius's death – I'm sure I need to take part of it, myself – but it wasn't your fault.” 

Althea turned and looked out at the waves coming in. “A large part of the blame is on Sirius, himself, for being so cocky. Bellatrix was in a murderous rage right then, so somebody was going to die. Sirius just happened to be the one in her way.” 

Harry looked a little more relaxed by the time they were done talking. 

 

Minerva headed back to Britain, to oversee repairs to Hogwarts, right after dinner that night. The kids were torn between wanting to go home and help and wanting to stay with Althea. It hadn't taken long for the kids to become attached to Althea's self-deprecating humor, and the way she gave them credit for being more grown up than most adults did. 

Minerva finally said, “You'll stay here and convince Althea to come teach at Hogwarts next year.” 

Althea looked a little nonplussed, but liked the idea of the kids staying.

 

After Cassiopeia was tucked into bed, it was Althea's turn to talk. 

“Althea,” said Harry.

“Hmm?”

“Were my dad and Sirius really arrogant at school?”

Althea paused to consider. “Yes,” she finally decided. Harry looked a little upset at this summation.“They had reason,” Althea continued, “they were the smartest two boys in school, they were popular with almost everybody, they were good at anything they wanted to do. . . and they were typical full-of-themselves teenagers.” 

“Snape said they were arrogant,” Harry said.

“Well, first, take anything Snape said with a large spoon of salt. He can't be considered to have an unbiased opinion on James and Sirius.” Althea looked at Harry carefully and said, “And remember that I loved the both of them, but I can see their faults, along with their good points. They were arrogant – Sirius more than James – but it was the typical arrogance of teenagers who are too smart for their own good. Nothing more. Nothing, I'm sure, like Snape described them.” 

“So, how, exactly, did you end up going out with him, if you knew that he was so arrogant?” asked Hermione.

_"Go out with me," said Sirius Black, age just 18. He was sitting on one of the beds in the hospital wing, watching Althea Willow at a cauldron._

_Althea Willow whirled around from the cauldron, where she was stirring a potion, to see which girl Sirius was talking to. She found that he was looking straight at her._

_"What?" she asked in complete surprise._

_"Go out with me," Sirius Black said again, in a tone that made it clear that he never had to ask a girl out twice._

_Althea stopped and considered 18-year-old Sirius Black. She took in his silky black hair, hanging nonchalantly in his face; his gray eyes; his manner, on the border between smug and arrogant. "No," she said, and turned back to her cauldron._

_Sirius looked shocked. "Why not?" he demanded. She turned back from her cauldron again. The look on his face led Althea to further believe that he didn't hear, "No", from a girl. . . ever._

_She folded her arms over the apron she wore while she was in the hospital wing, looked him over, raised her left eyebrow, and asked, "What are you in the hospital wing for? For the third time in six months?"_

_Sirius Black actually blushed. "How do you know that?" he asked defensively._

_Althea shot him a look that said, 'You're kidding'. She turned back to her cauldron again as she said, "Sirius, I'm Madame Pomfrey's assistant." She looked back at him and said dryly, "I know everything."_

_She ladled a really noxious-looking purple potion into a flask for him. "Drink a tablespoon of this every morning and evening and your, uh, problem will disappear in about a week."_

_She handed the potion to him and he held the flask and her hand as he said, "Go out with me," in a more insistent tone._

_"No," she said emphatically, and pulled her hand out of his. "I ain't going out with anybody who has to be treated for Venus rash three times in six months - I ain't stupid."_

_Sirius smiled at her Southern accent - so different from all the other girls in school. "Is that why you won't go out with me?"_

_Sirius Black had just noticed how lovely Althea Willow really was. Even in the get-up she had to wear while she was working in the hospital wing, Sirius saw that she was a lovely girl. Her eyes were the oddest mixture of hazel and green he'd ever seen - more intriguing than Lily Evans' eyes, in his opinion. Her dark brown hair would have been past her shoulders, hanging in curls and waves, but it was swept up into a silly cap that Madame Pomfrey made her wear. It had just occurred to him that Althea Willow was more than Lily Evans' shadow - she was smart, confident, and beautiful in her own right._

_She gave him a look of utter disdain. "Do you know how many girls I have comforted while they sobbed over you?"_

_He smiled a smug and arrogant smile, "No. How many?"_

_She glared at him and said, "I lost count." Sirius laughed out loud. She started cleaning out the cauldron of the remains of the potion she'd just made. "I ain't going out with you," she said again. "You're not breaking my heart the way you have almost every other girl's in school."_

_Sirius had a look of determination on his face as he asked, "What would make you want to go out with me?"_

_"Huh," she said scornfully. "Not much." She turned from her cauldron and considered Sirius Black again. "Quit showing up in the hospital wing with Venus rash, for one thing." The set of Sirius's head after this statement led her to say, "Lily won't make this potion for you," with a small shake of her head and a smug expression of her own._

_Sirius looked surprised and deflated as he walked toward the door of the hospital wing. He turned at the door and said, "You'll go out with me Althea Willow. Before school is over, you'll go out with me."_

_There was such a large note of challenge in this that Althea surprised herself when she called after him, "If you get me to go out with you, Sirius Black, I will be the last girl you ever date!"_

_Sirius's already-smug grin got wider and he said, "It's a deal." With that, he walked out the door._

_Althea was shocked. "What have I just done?" she asked no one. She shook her head at her idiocy and went back to cleaning out the cauldron._

 

“So how did he get you to go out with him?” asked Hermione again.

“He out-stubborned me. He just kept asking me out, over and over, so I finally gave in, partly to shut him up!” Althea admitted. “That was the last time I ever gave him a potion for Venus rash,” Althea pondered. 

“When was your first date?” asked Ron.

“A Hogsmeade weekend in December. I am shocked and dismayed to realize that it only took him two months to get me to go out with him.”

“How did it go?” asked Harry.

“Disastrous,” Althea said, making all the kids laugh. “He took me to the Hog's Head Inn.” The kids all laughed louder. “That's where he took all his girls. . .” her voice trailed off. “What's so funny?”

“He laughed at us for meeting in the Hog's Head Inn when we started Dumbledore's Army!” said Hermione.

Althea shook her head and sighed.

“So, what happened?” asked Ginny, wanting to get on with the story.

“Well, I slapped him.” 

“Why?” Harry managed to gasp out amidst the laughter, loving the image of Althea slapping Sirius across the face.

“He tried to put his regular moves on me and I wasn't having it. So I slapped him and stormed out.”

_Sirius finally caught up with her outside the Three Broomsticks._

_“Althea, wait!” he called._

_“No!” she answered, furiously. She kept plowing her way through the thickening snow toward school._

_He caught her arm and turned her around._

_“You don't get it, do you?” she stormed, eyes flashing their most dangerous green. “I am not any other girl you've ever been out with, Sirius Black! You're not gonna pursue me till you get what you want and then drop me like you have every other girl!”_

_“I'm sorry, Althea,” he managed to say while she drew breath._

_That took the wind out of her sails. “What?” she asked._

_“I'm sorry,”he said again. “Will you come back?” he asked._

_“Not to the Hog's Head,” she said._

_“Okay. Wherever you want to go, Althea, just please, don't leave. I'll keep my hands to myself and be a perfect gentleman.”_

_Althea surveyed Sirius with suspicion. “Who are you and what have you done with the real Sirius Black?”_

_“This is the real me, Althea.”_

_“Oh, please, Sirius. This is you acting like you think I want you to, till I let my guard down.”_

_“No, Althea, this is the new me.”_

_“Where did this come from?”_

_“I'd do anything to get you to go out with me.” Wrong thing to say. Althea stormed off toward Hogwarts again._

_“No, wait, Althea! I didn't mean it that way!” Althea just rolled her eyes and kept walking. “Althea!” He ran to catch her and got ahead of her. “What do you want me to say, Althea?” he asked her, as he walked backward, trying to keep up with her._

_“No.”_

_“What?” he asked, trying to look at Althea and over his shoulder for things he might trip over while walking backward at the same time._

_Althea stopped walking and just looked at him. “Sirius, I can't tell you what to say to me – that wouldn't be honest of either of us.”_

_“You want honesty?” he asked, sort of confused by this. A girl wanted honesty? He thought girls wanted him to whisper sweet nothings and make impossible promises. Honesty?_

_“I value it highly.” Althea the merciful threw him a bone: “If you want me to stay, be honest.”_

_“Then don't leave.”_

_“Why shouldn't I? First you try to feel me up like I'm one of the beautiful bimbos you normally date, then you tell me that you'd do anything to get me to come out with you. I'm not stupid. You're just putting on this act till I fall for you, then you'll dump me. And that's not honest.” She started walking back toward Hogwarts again._

_Sirius jumped in front of her and said, “Okay. Honesty. I'll be honest.”_

_Althea crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you even know how to be honest with a girl? One you really want to date, that is.”_

_“Well. . .” he said. “No.” he admitted reluctantly._

_“That's the first honest thing you've said all day,” she answered._

_“It's a new sensation, honesty,” he said. His tone was a lot less arrogant than normal._

_Althea looked at him incredulously. My goodness, she thought, could he actually have humility hidden behind that handsome, prideful face?_

_“You want me to stay?” she asked._

_“Yes,” he answered._

_“Pride have anything to do with it?” The look on his face said she wasn't far off the mark. “Honesty, remember?”_

_“Well, all right, yes, I've never had a girl leave mad before and I don't want you to be the first,” he said in a rush, as if saying it quickly meant that this honesty she was insisting on would be over faster._

_“Answer me this,” she said. “Why me? I'm not the tall, willowy gorgeous type you go for.”_

_“No, you're not,” Sirius said slowly. “And that's why. All those other girls I dated, there wasn't much to them beyond the surface. You – huh – there are layers and layers to you. And you have the most intriguing eyes.”_

_Althea rolled said eyes at him again. “My eyes?”_

_“Yeah, your eyes.”_

_“Not my 'layers and layers', my eyes.”_

_“Well, it was the eyes that drew me to the layers.”_

_“It's really because I'm an American.”_

_“That's just one of your layers.”_

_Althea rolled her eyes again. “You are so full of malarkey.”_

_“Maybe,” he conceded, “But you stopped walking.”_

_Althea had to admit defeat at this._

_“Come with me,” Sirius cajoled._

_“Where?”_

_“We'll go to the Three Broomsticks and get butterbeers.”_

_“You'll keep your hands to yourself?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“I'll slap you again if you don't.”_

_“I realize that.”_

_“Good. 'Cause my hand print is still on your cheek,” Althea admitted with a bit of guilt._

 

“So, how did the rest of the day go?” asked Ginny through her laughter.

“He was as good as his word and was a perfect gentleman the rest of the day,” Althea said, still kind of bewildered by Sirius Black, twenty years and more later.

“So your next date. . .” said Hermione. 

“Well, let's see. . .” Althea pondered. “That was on a Saturday in Hogsmeade, so on Sunday, in the Common Room. . .”

_Althea was curled up with a good book by the fire. It looked like she was reading, but she was really letting her thoughts meander all over the world. Her thoughts had a ridiculous habit of coming back to Sirius Black. It was getting annoying. Sure, he'd been a gentleman in the end yesterday, but he'd almost ignored her since they'd got back to Hogwarts. Althea figured that having a girl force him to be honest was more than he could take and that he wouldn't be back for more._

_She'd just forced her thoughts back to Pride and Prejudice when suddenly there was a shadow looming over her. She looked up to find Sirius looking down at her._

_“What are you reading?” he asked and sat down on the hearth in front of her._

_“Pride and Prejudice,” she answered. “It's one of my favorites.”_

_“Care to take a walk with me?” he asked in what sounded like a sweet tone to Althea._

_Sirius Black?? SWEET??_

_She looked up and over her shoulder out the window, where there was a blizzard blowing. “In this weather?” she asked._

_“The castle's big, Althea, we wouldn't have to go outside.”_

_“True,” she answered. “All right. Let me put my book away.”_

_She ran up the stairs to her dormitory. Lily was sitting in the room that they shared with Alice and two other girls, alone. Althea thought it likely that she was hiding from James Potter._

_“Lily,” she said in a sort of scared and incredulous tone._

_“What?” Lily answered, turning to see Althea's eyes wide and staring._

_“Why did I just agree to go for a walk with Sirius Black?”_

_“Are you mental?” Lily asked as she bounded across the room._

_“Probably,” Althea conceded with a nod of the head. “Though he did turn out not to be an octopus yesterday.”_

_Lily Evans just shook her long red hair. “You're mad.”_

_“Yeah,”Althea agreed. “But we're staying in the castle, so listen for me to scream, okay?”_

_“Yeah, okay,” Lily agreed._

_Lily walked back downstairs with Althea. They found Sirius and James in close consultation in a corner. James looked up at Lily first. Sirius turned and looked at Althea and actually smiled a genuine smile. Althea was sure she had a stupid grin plastered on her face, but she didn't seem to be able to stop herself; he had the most beautiful gray eyes._

_Althea was certain that every single Gryffindor in the school was in the common room watching this scene. She tried not to think about it, hoping she wouldn't blush too furiously. She was also sure that there were a few girls sitting in the room who either wanted to take her place or scratch her eyes out. The ones who had had their hearts broken by him she was trying even harder not to think about._

_“Shall we?” he asked as he held out an elbow for her to take. Althea nodded and smiled in answer as she let him tuck her left hand under his elbow and lead her toward the portrait hole._

_She heard Lily mutter, “Now I've seen everything.” Then she was through the portrait hole, Sirius was beside her, and the Fat Lady's portrait swung back into place to guard the entrance to Gryffindor Tower._

_They started walking down the hall and Althea finally found her voice again. “Where shall we go?” she asked._

_“I didn't really have a destination in mind,” Sirius answered. “I just thought it would be nice to get away from the crowd in the Common Room for awhile and have a quiet conversation.”_

_Sirius wanted to have a quiet conversation??? Althea asked herself. She said, “Oh,” in a rather non-committal tone. “Okay.”_

_“You weren't saying much in the Three Broomsticks yesterday, I noticed,” Sirius said._

_“No. It was too crowded.”_

_“Well, we could have gone back to the Hog's Head. . .” he said, as he looked down at her._

_She could tell from his tone that he was teasing. “I would have had to slap you again,” she said in the same teasing tone._

_Sirius laughed out loud. It was the first time she'd really noticed Sirius's laugh. He didn't just laugh; he barked. Althea liked hearing it and wondered if she'd get to hear it again soon. They walked down the long corridor of the seventh floor, talking. The conversation was a bit stilted at first, but the longer they walked, the more Althea felt herself relaxing in the presence of Sirius Black._

_Althea had thought that Sirius would give her back her left hand, but he had tucked it back under his elbow once they were in the corridor and it was still there. In fact, he'd taken his left hand and wrapped it around her fingers, so she was doubly trapped. She couldn't think of anything to do with her right hand, so she rested it on top of his hand holding her left one._

_Althea took in the picture of the two of them, walking down the corridor arm in arm, and smiled to herself._

_“What's funny?” Sirius asked._

_Althea shook her head, but the smile stayed. “I feel like a character in a Jane Austen novel.”_

_“Is that good?” he asked._

_She looked up at him and said, “Yes.” She wondered to herself how long he could keep this up, but a half hour later, they were still walking the corridors and the stairs of Hogwarts, and he hadn't made a move, but kept her hand under his elbow and held her fingers._

_He stopped by a tapestry on the seventh floor and turned to face her. Uh, oh, she thought to herself. He's trying to move in for the kill. He held both her hands up to his lips and considered them._

_“You have such tiny hands,” he said._

_“Family trait,” she said._

_He kissed the knuckles of both her hands, took hold of her left hand in his right, and started down the hall again._

_Althea didn't move. “Sirius Black, what are you up to?” To keep holding her hand, Sirius had to turn around and come back._

_“You don't trust me, do you?” he returned._

_“Nope.”_

_“I want you to trust me.” There was an intense look on his face that Althea had never seen before._

_“Why?” she asked, feeling very confused._

_“Because there must be something special to a girl who tells me,'No',” he answered._

_“You seriously have never had a girl tell you, 'no,' before?” asked Althea in disbelief._

_“Never,” answered Sirius, as if it was his right to never be refused._

_An idea crossed Althea's mind. “Bet your parents never told you, 'no', either, did they?”_

_“On occasion,” Sirius admitted._

_Althea nodded her head. “You're from an old pure-blood family, aren't you?”_

_He reluctantly answered, “Yes, but what does that matter?”_

_“Might not matter at all, but you do know that I'm a half-blood?”_

_“Where are you going with this, Althea?” Sirius asked in a different tone._

_Althea shrugged her shoulder and said, “I'm just trying to figure you out, Sirius.” Althea stopped and considered him, looking him up and down. “You have pride about you.”_

_“Does it show?”he asked teasingly._

_“It's the first thing anybody sees.” Althea paused again. “You're proud of yourself. You're proud of your talents and your friends – well, James and Remus. However, I think that you don't want to be so proud of your family.”_

_Sirius sounded bitter when he said, “My family think that to be a pure-blood makes one better than royalty. I don't.”_

_Althea nodded at this, as if to say that she agreed, and she acknowledged that he was different from his family._

_“I moved in with James and his parents over the summer.”_

_“Why?” Althea asked quietly._

_“I couldn't stand being around my parents any more – my mother, especially. She blasted my cousin Andromeda off the family tree for marrying a Muggle-born.”_

_Althea tilted her head and raised her eyebrows a bit. “Well, she wouldn't like me: my dad and grandfather are Muggles.”_

_“But I don't care, Althea,” he said emphatically. “I like you,” he said, quietly and fervently._

_“Why?” she asked just as quietly._

_“Because you told me, 'no'. Because you're smart. And capable. And you know your own mind. Because you have such beautiful eyes.” His eyes held hers captive. His hands had both of hers again, raised to his chin._

_She couldn't tear her gaze away from him, but she said quietly, “You're being honest.”_

_“For you, I'll be anything,” he said. Not in the flippant way he'd said something similar the day before, but in a way that made Althea think that he wasn't playing her. He wasn't just stringing her along till he got her in bed; he sounded like he really meant it._

_“Why?” she asked again._

_“You still don't trust me, do you?” he asked, a little crestfallen. He dropped her hands and started to turn away._

_“Your reputation precedes you, Sirius Black. Every girl who's gone out with you before would say you're a heart breaker.”_

_“You're not every girl I've gone out with before,” he said archly. He looked down over his shoulder at her._

_“Ouch,” said Althea. “My own words come back to haunt me.” Twenty-four hours before, the idea that she wouldn't want Sirius Black to stop looking at her the way he just had would have been unimaginable. Now, she thought she could drown in those gray eyes of his. A day before, the idea that she would want to hold his hand would have been anathema. Now, she reached out to take it._

_He looked down and smiled at her, which smile she returned. She couldn't seem to stop herself from asking, “Do you play all the girls like this?”_

_Thankfully, he could tell she was teasing. “No, any other girl has usually given up to me by now.” Althea laughed, but didn't tell him that she was close to that point herself._

_Sirius swept a hand to indicate the hall before them. “Shall we?” he asked her again._

_“All right,” she answered, and they proceeded on their walk through Hogwarts together._

 

“He didn't kiss you?” Ginny asked in shock.

“Not then. When we got back to the tower, everyone could tell that something had changed about both of us, but neither of us was going to say that he'd only gone so far as to kiss my hand. He did have a reputation to uphold. We didn't say anything.” 

Althea's eyes were dreamy and there was a smile on her face. “I went upstairs to get my book, and you should have heard Lily. What happened? she wanted to know. Nothing, I answered. What did he do to you? she grilled me. Nothing, I answered. Sirius kissing my hand was something I didn't want to share, even with Lily.” Althea paused to consider that there are some things one doesn't tell even her best friend.

“So, I went back to Pride and Prejudice till dinner time and Sirius appeared at my elbow again, asking me to go down to dinner with him, so I did. We sat across the table from each other, and Lily plopped down beside me, and spent all of dinner dividing glares between Sirius and James. I just let her,” she said with a shrug of the shoulder. “I thought it might be good for Sirius to know that Lily would hex him dramatically if he tried anything.” The kids chuckled at this. 

“So, anyway, after dinner, Sirius had homework to finish – I didn't – but I sat with him and James while they finished theirs, 'cause Sirius asked me to. When I finally announced I was going to bed, Sirius said he was too, and he'd walk me to the stairs.” 

 

_“Good night,” Althea said, still wondering at the change in Sirius Black over the last two days._

_“Good night,” he answered._

_She turned to start up the stairs, but he caught her hand, “Thea!” he said. She turned back, and Sirius took her other hand, and very slowly, very cautiously, gently, kissed her._

 

“Sirius is still the only person who ever called me, 'Thea,'” Althea concluded. Hermione and Ginny had looks of dreamy wonder on their faces. 

“Wow,” said Harry. “I never would have believed that Sirius could be that romantic.” 

Althea chuckled slightly and said, “You don't know the half of it, pal. But, those stories are mine and his alone.”

Althea went to bed that night with her head still full of Sirius. “Sirius,” she said to the room. The sound of his name, the shape of his name on paper, it was so full of him – his large personality, his loud barking laugh, his burning eyes, his passionate heart, it was all there in his name. Two years later, and still, just the sound of his name seemed to conjure up all that he'd been to her and everyone else who had loved him. There was still a hole in her life that was the size and shape of Sirius Black. Althea was not sure that there would ever be anyone else who could even come close to being to her what he had been, nor did she think she even wanted anyone to try. Loving Sirius Black had been so all-consuming that she was still at it, two years after he was gone. Well, she'd loved him while he'd been separated from her for almost thirteen years; what was two compared to that?

They'd just settled in for lunch two days after the kids had arrived. Cassiopeia was busy in the living room, emptying her toy box and flinging toys hither and yon. Quite a few ended up in the dining room.

“Cassiopeia, don't throw!” Althea said in her mother voice. She waved her wand to stop a plastic doll from hitting Ron in the head. 

There was suddenly a knock on the door, accompanied by both the dogs going into their protective modes: Gretl threw back her head and howled; Harold barked his menacing bark, but then both dogs started wagging their tails as if a long lost friend was on the porch. 

“Harry, will you see who that is?” Althea asked. She didn't expect it to be anyone who'd be a threat to Harry – as if there was anyone or anything who could be a real threat to Harry Potter now – and the dogs were happy to smell whomever it was. Althea figured it was her parents or brother.

Harry said, “Yeah, sure,” and opened the door and stepped out on the porch. 

“What was that?” Ginny asked. 

“It sounded like Harry shrieked,” said Hermione. 

They all started to head toward the door, afraid that something had happened, but before they could get there, Harry came back into the house, followed by a tall man with long black hair, who was looking at the floor. Althea couldn't see his face immediately, but something was very familiar about him. She walked into the living room and he lifted his head so she could see him. 

All the color drained from her face as she looked first at Harry, whose face looked like he was about to burst with joy, to Sirius Black. 

She shook her head in shock. This had to be a figment of her imagination. It couldn’t be. Sirius had been gone for two years. Harry had seen him fall through the veil in the Department of Mysteries. Sirius was dead. He couldn’t be standing there in the living room. He just couldn’t be. 

Sirius finally broke the silence. “Althea!” he said, and moved toward her tentatively.

Althea’s eyes welled with tears as she said, “Are you real?” as Sirius moved closer. “Are you real?” she whispered, as he reached her and very carefully and gently traced the tears flowing down her face. “OH!” She almost screamed as he touched her. 

He said, very carefully, gently, joyfully, “Yes, Althea. I’m real.”

Althea would never be able to remember exactly what happened next. She thought her knees collapsed under her just as Sirius gathered her into his arms. “OH! You are real!” Her breath was coming in great gasps and she wasn’t coherent in the least. “How did this happen? I can’t believe it! Sirius, you died! Harry saw you fall through the veil! You died! How are you here?!”

“I heard you say my name and I was pushed back through,” he said, sounding amazed by it himself.

Everyone else in the house looked as shocked as Althea. The only thing that made Althea think that this might be real was the way the dogs behaved. Their tails wagged and they acted like their best friend had just reappeared. If the dogs thought it was really Sirius, it must be. Harold and Gretl couldn't be fooled.

In the midst of all the excited exclamations at Sirius's appearance, Althea was dimly aware that Cassiopeia was yelling, “Mama! Maaaaaaaaama! MAMA!”Althea looked around, to see that Cass had somehow climbed into her toy box and got stuck. 

“Cass, how in the world?” Althea asked as she rescued the baby from her latest misadventure.

“Althea?” asked Sirius. Everyone in the house giggled at the gob-smacked look on Sirius's face.

They saw Althea pick up the baby, steel herself, take a deep breath, and say, “Sirius, this is Cassiopeia Lily Black.”

Sirius Black sat down. Lucky for him, the couch was right behind him. Everyone roared with laughter at the look on Sirius’s face as he was introduced to his daughter.

“She’s ours?” 

“Yes, honey, she’s ours.” 

“How? How?”

“Do you remember the last time we saw each other?”

“Yes…”

“You remember what happened that night?” Althea hoped she wasn’t blushing too furiously.

“Yes…” Sirius had a lecherous look on his face at the memory.

“Yeah. Well, nine months later… Hello, Cassie!”

“And she’s really ours? Really mine?”

Althea’s eyes filled up again, “Honey, she couldn’t possibly belong to anyone else.”

Sirius stood up, pulled them both into his arms, and kissed Althea long and deep. There might have been an, “Aw”, from those assembled, but neither of them was paying much attention. 

Cassiopeia didn’t think much of this and started to protest being squeezed by a man she’d never seen before. Somebody – it must have been one of the girls - took Cassie from them, allowing Althea to move even deeper into Sirius’s arms. 

They finally broke apart, laughing, when Ron said dryly, “Keep that up and you’ll have another one in nine months!”

After the shock of seeing Sirius had worn off, the questions started:

“How did you get here?”

“Have you seen anyone else?”

“What do you mean you heard me say your name?”

Sirius fired answers back: “I apparated. I went to the Burrow first – that's how I knew where you were -” directed to Harry, “and I heard you say my name, Althea,” he said as he looked at her.

“On which side of the veil?” Althea asked.

“I guess I was on the other side.”

“Did you say somebody pushed you through?”

“Yeah. I think it was Bellatrix.”

Althea eyed him suspiciously. “You think, or you know, because you aggravated her until she did it?”

The kids laughed at the angelic look on Sirius's face. “Would I do that?”

“Absolutely,” Althea answered to more laughter. 

“I think that's what happened,” Sirius said, sounding a little more serious. “When Bellatrix died – how did that happen, anyway? The curse on my body broke, and Dumbledore encouraged me to just see what would happen if I went and. . . put my body back on.” He looked at everyone, smiled widest at Harry and Althea and said, “I still can't quite believe it worked.” 

“Neither can we,” Harry said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where we go AU. The book never mentions what color the curse was that hit Sirius, and the last curse Bellatrix had thrown was a stunner, so that's what I'm going with. Sirius is my favorite character, so I had to find a way to resurrect him.


End file.
